ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Dee Estuary

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the environmental impact of dredging in the Dee estuary.

Elliot Morley: Dredging in the Dee estuary is regulated by the Environment Agency in Wales with additional consents being required from both the Welsh Assembly Government and the Department for Transport.
	As there is an English component to the conservation interests on the Dee, I would expect to be consulted regarding any decision to allow dredging to take place should it affect English interests.

Fisheries

Mark Lazarowicz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to ensure the sustainability of fish stocks around the UK.

Ben Bradshaw: There are a range of national and EU measures in place to ensure the sustainability of fish stocks in our waters. The Prime Minister's Strategy Unit has made far-reaching recommendations for new measures and we will be spending fully to these proposals by the end of the year.

Wild Animals

Jim Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to simplify the legislation relating to the keeping of wild animals.

Elliot Morley: The Department will be publishing a consultation paper on 28 June setting out proposals for improvements to the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976, which regulates the keeping of dangerous wild animals by private individuals, and will also soon be publishing a draft Animal Welfare Bill.

Housing

Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department is planning to take to mitigate the impact of building new homes upon underground aquifers.

Elliot Morley: Water companies have a duty to supply water to domestic customers. As part of this they develop 25 year water resource plans to meet future demands of water, including those arising from new housing development.
	It is crucial that new housing and other developments incorporate water efficiency measures, and the Government encourage planners to consult with the Environment Agency and water companies at an early stage.

Greyhounds

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many representations she has received this year on the welfare of racing greyhounds; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: I regret that the Department is unable to provide such detail because of the many different ways in which representations are made, including by letter, e mail, petitions and postcard campaigns.
	There has been a large number of representations on greyhounds this year, encouraged, no doubt, by a campaign run by a major animal welfare organisation.

Greyhounds

Alan Meale: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people have been prosecuted under the Abandonment of Animals Act 1960 with regard to greyhounds in each of the last 10 years.

Paul Goggins: I have been asked to reply.
	It is not possible to identify those prosecutions under the Abandonment of Animals Act 1960 that relate to greyhounds because details of the circumstances of the offences are not collected centrally.

Civil Servants

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the implications of the Gershon Review for levels of staffing in her Department.

Margaret Beckett: The settlement for the 2004 Spending Review, including the outcome to the efficiency review, has not been finalised yet. Once it has been concluded, the potential impact on staff will be identified.

Coastal Defence

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the priority score criteria used in assessing coastal defence schemes.

Elliot Morley: Defra funds projects based on a published priority score system which applies equally to all projects, coastal or otherwise. The score takes account of the number of people protected, benefits as compared to costs, and environmental protection and enhancement. Eligible projects which score at or above the announced threshold will be funded. The threshold score for projects to start in 2004–05 is 20.

Single Farm Payment

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received on the proposed cross-compliance conditions for the single farm payment.

Margaret Beckett: The deadline for responses to the consultation on proposed and possible measures for cross compliance ended on 20 June. We have received 451 presentations from a wide range of stakeholders and officials are now considering the responses.

Aluminium Powder

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the trends have been since 1997 in respect of the concentration of aluminium powder in air.

Alun Michael: Defra monitors ambient aluminium concentrations at three locations: Chilton, Oxfordshire; Styrrup, Yorkshire; and Wraymires, Cumbria. The following table shows annual mean air concentrations from 1997 to 2002 (the latest year that data are available). Details of the monitoring data are available in reports published on Defra's Air Quality Archive at www.airquality.co.uk.
	
		Annual mean air concentration of aluminium (ng m - (3))
		
			  Chilton Styrrup Wraymires 
		
		
			 1997 110 145 54 
			 1998 92 137 58 
			 1999 68 110 67 
			 2000 100 140 49 
			 2001 76 110 42 
			 2002 82 120 40

Beef Exports

Archy Kirkwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she last met officials from the European Commission to discuss beef exports.

Ben Bradshaw: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, meets Commissioner Byrne regularly at Agriculture Councils to discuss various issues, including beef exports. DEFRA officials also have regular meetings with officials from the Commission.

Cetacean By-catch

Candy Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what conclusions she has drawn from this season's monitoring of cetacean by-catch.

Ben Bradshaw: I have not yet received the report of this season's monitoring of cetacean by-catch. However, as soon as I receive it I shall give careful consideration to whether any further regulatory measures are necessary to reduce cetacean by-catch caused by interactions with fisheries.

Cod Recovery Programme

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact of multi-rig trawls on the cod recovery programme.

Ben Bradshaw: We are concerned about the increased catching efficiency of multi-rig trawls. They have the potential to undermine restrictions on fishing effort in the cod recovery programme.

Common Agricultural Policy

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on payments for orchards under Common Agricultural Policy reform, with particular reference to the eligibility for payments of different types of orchards.

Alun Michael: Under the CAP reform agreement reached last year, the new Single Payment will not normally be payable on land under permanent crops, including orchard fruit. This rule applies throughout the European Community. The scope of a possible exception for traditional grazed orchards, in line with current provisions, is being explored with the European Commission.
	Entitlements to subsidy under the new scheme will be established in 2005 on the basis of eligible land declared in that year, which includes having the land at his disposal for at least a 10 month period. The start of this period may be any date from 1 October this year to 30 April next, at the grower's discretion.

GM Crops

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer from the Minister for Public Health of 11 December 2003, Official Report, columns 596–7W, on GM crops, what (a) notice and (b) formal communication the Food Standards Agency gave to her Department of its intention to support the approval of the application of the use of Bt 11 GM maize in food at the EC Standing Committee for the food chain and animal health meeting on 8 December 2003.

Elliot Morley: The Food Standards Agency wrote on 30 October last year seeking the clearance from all relevant government departments of the UK's voting position on Bt11 sweet maize at the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health. Additionally my Department is kept informed of the progress of applications as they proceed through the Novel Foods regulatory process.

Orchards

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the position will be under the mid-term review of the Common Agricultural Policy of orchards which are returned to general agriculture.

Alun Michael: Entitlements to subsidy under the new Single Payment Scheme will be established in 2005 on the basis of eligible land declared in that year. The Single Payment will not normally be payable on land under permanent crops, including orchard fruit. This rule applies throughout the European Community. The scope of a possible exception for grazed orchards is being explored with the European Commission.
	A grower who decided that he wished to return land to general agriculture would need to do so before the beginning of the 10-month qualifying period in order to be eligible for the Single Payment. This period can start on any day from 1 October this year to 30 April next at the grower's discretion.
	Claims to establish new entitlements in subsequent years will not generally be permitted. However, use of the national reserve to accommodate new entrants is one of the possibilities being considered in our current consultation exercise.

WALES

Euro Task Force

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much money has been spent by the Wales Euro Task Force on preparing Welsh firms for the introduction of the euro; how that money was spent; and what actions the funding facilitated.

Don Touhig: The National Assembly for Wales funded the Wales Euro Taskforce which was in existence until 30 June 2002 and then subsequently a consultant until October 2003. The total cost was £64,000.
	The Task Force remit was to disseminate information on the Euro, providing help for businesses in Wales. This work was taken forward in a number of ways including presentations, conferences, exhibitions, a telephone helpline with access to an expert panel, an information website and leaflet distribution.

Working Time Directive

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many employees in his Department have (a) signed a formal opt out from and (b) are exempt from the Working Time Directive; and how many employees in his Department have recorded hours, including any accruing on a flexitime basis, in excess of the maximum allowed under the Working Time Directive in the last month for which figures are available.

Don Touhig: Two members of staff have voluntarily opted out of this directive and are therefore exempt from the Working Time Directive.
	The Wales Office has a duty to ensure the health and safety of its staff. Therefore no member of staff at the Wales Office is asked to work hours in excess of the Working Time Directive (an average of 48 hours a week over a 17-week period).

TREASURY

Cigarette Duties

Julie Morgan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much the Government earned in revenue from tobacco duty and VAT on cigarettes in financial years (a) 2001–02, (b) 2002–03 and (c) 2003–04.

John Healey: Tobacco duty revenue figures are published by HM Customs and Excise in the Tobacco Factsheet, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House and from Customs' website.
	Customs do not collect data on VAT from individual goods or services.

Correspondence

Simon Burns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when a reply will be sent to the hon. Member for West Chelmsford in response to his letter of 11 March to the Inland Revenue concerning his constituents, Mr. and Mrs. Moss.

Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue replied to the hon. Member on 29 April 2004.

Departmental Websites

Oliver Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total cost of his Department's websites, including those of its agencies, was in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Ruth Kelly: The costs and traffic figures for each website operated by the agencies and Departments for which the Chancellor of the Exchequer is responsible, during the 2003–04 financial year, were as follows:
	
		
			 Department/site address  Direct costs (£)   Visits Page impressions (million) 
		
		
			 HM Customs and Excise
			 www.hmce.gov.uk (1)393,000 3.7 million — 
			 www.uktradeinfo.com (1)285,000 214,336 1.05 
			 HM Treasury
			 www.hm-treasury.gov.uk (1)197,000 2.6 million 41.4 
			 www.euro.gov.uk 32,000 660,000  
			 www.isb.gov.uk (2)62,785  — 
			 Inland Revenue
			 www.ir.gov.uk (3)1.9 million 9.9 million 110.6 
			 Office for National Statistics   
			 www.statistics.gov.uk (1)1.1 million 7.14 million 60.6 million 
			 National Savings and Investments 
			 www.nsandi.com (1)156,180 5.5 million 16.7 
			 Office of Government Commerce 
			 www.ogc.gov.uk www.sds.ogc.gov.uk www.gps.ogc.gov.uk www.co.ogc.gov.uk www.supplyinggovernment.gov.uk https://www.epims.ogc.gov.uk www.ogc-top.co.uk 226,000 592,551 — 
			 OGC buying solution
			 OGCbuying.solutions corporate website Energy Website G-Cat S-Cat Portfolio Portal Web enabled 'Central Product Database' and e-commerce system 499,999 439,268 — 
			 Royal Mint
			 www.royalmint.gov.uk (1)93,000 966,047 7.2 
			 UK Debt Management Office
			 www.dmo.gov.uk www.pwlb.gov.uk www.crnd.gov.uk (1)85,000 384,533 1.4 
			 Valuation Office
			 http://www.voa.gov.uk/ (1)42,000 26,896 2.4 
		
	
	(1) Staff costs are included.
	(2) Costs include database development work for this joint Treasury-Cabinet Office website.
	(3) Of this 1.9 million, 1.4 million is a one off cost relating to the redesign of the Inland Revenue's website.

Employment Levels

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the effect of employment levels on the economy.

Ruth Kelly: The performance of the UK labour market over recent years has been strong by both international and historical standards. The UK has the highest employment rate among the G7 economies. Over 1.8 million new jobs have been created since 1997. High employment levels contribute to growth and prosperity.

Office for National Statistics

John Baron: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to change the way statistics related to (a) cancer, (b) neurology, (c) ophthalmology, (d) nursing and (e) midwifery are recorded by the Office For National Statistics.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr Baron dated 24 June 2004
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question on what plans I have to change the way statistics related to (a) cancer, (b) neurology, (c) ophthalmology, (d) nursing and (e) midwifery are recorded by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). (180202)
	ONS maintains the National Cancer Registry, which collates information collected by the nine regional cancer registries in England. The way in which cancer data are collected, recorded and validated by regional registries is likely to change as the NHS National Programme for IT (NPfIT) develops. In the longer term changes will follow from the introduction in the NHS of the National Cancer Dataset.
	Statistics showing the numbers of people in employment in each occupation are available regularly from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), which is carried out by ONS. This separately identifies figures for opthalmic opticians, nurses and midwives. There are no plans to change the analysis of people in employment from the LFS, although it is planned that the LFS itself will be incorporated in the Continuous Population Survey in 2008. At a later date, it is likely that a new classification of occupations will be introduced.
	No other statistics on the topics listed in your question are recorded by ONS, and there are no immediate plans to change this.

Smoking-related Illness

Julie Morgan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent estimate he has made of the cost to the economy of smoking-related illnesses and fatalities.

Paul Boateng: The White Paper Smoking Kills (1998) estimated the cost to the NHS of treating ill-health caused by smoking was £1.7 billion a year.

Unemployment (Tamworth)

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the long-term (a) adult and (b) youth unemployment rates were in Tamworth constituency in each of the last 10 years.

Ruth Kelly: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who I have asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Brian Jenkins, dated 24 June 2004
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about unemployment. (179968)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles statistics of unemployment from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) following International Labour Organisation definitions. However, the LFS sample size is too small to give reliable estimates of unemployment in the Tamworth constituency.
	ONS also compiles statistics of those claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) for local areas including parliamentary constituencies.
	The table below shows JSA claimants claiming for over 12 months as a percentage of all claimants, for all ages and for those aged 18–24 years old in the Tamworth constituency. The figures are annual averages for each year since 1996. Comparable figures are not available for earlier years.
	
		People claiming JSA for 12 months or more, as percentage of all claimants -- Percentage
		
			  All ages 18 to 24 years 
		
		
			 1996 29.5 4.8 
			 1997 24.1 3.2 
			 1998 21.5 3.0 
			 1999 20.9 0.7 
			 2000 20.9 0.5 
			 2001 17.7 (4)— 
			 2002 14.5 (4)— 
			 2003 10.0 (4)— 
		
	
	(4) Figure not shown to protect individuals' confidentiality

DEFENCE

Databases

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the fields of the (a) Estates and Lands database and (b) his Department's Service personnel databases.

Ivor Caplin: Defence Estates (DE) controls and utilises numerous databases which encompass a wide range of information related to the day-to-day management of the land we own and use. These databases include the Defence Property Gazetteer Maintenance (which includes the disposal programme), E Terrier (which provides details of MOD ownership and legal titles), the MOD Sites Information System and the Parliamentary Business database. In some cases these comprise well over 100 individual fields.
	Excluding the three Services, which all have a multitude of individual databases, so far as the Service personnel databases are concerned, the armed forces Personnel Administration Agency alone has in excess of 300 individual databases, each one having numerous separate fields. The individual armed Services have many other databases.
	I am therefore unable to provide the information requested as it is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Staff

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people have left employment in his Department because of (a) anxiety, (b) stress, (c) depression and (d) other mental health reasons in each year since 1997.

Ivor Caplin: In the seven year period 1997–2003, 959 Regular Service personnel were medically discharged from the United Kingdom Armed Forces due to a mental health disorder. The Defence Analytical Services Agency codes the specific conditions according to the World Health Organization's International Statistical Classification of diseases and health-related problems 10th revision (ICD-10). According to this system it is not possible to identify separately all anxiety, stress, and depressive conditions as there is considerable overlap between them.
	
		Table A: UK Regular armed forces medically discharged for mental health disorders, 1997–2003
		
			   1997–2003 
			 Mental health disorder grouping ICD-10 codes total 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 All mental health disorders F00-F99 959 122 147 101 127 156 160 146 
			 Mood/affective disorders, and mental and behavioural disorders associated with the puerperium, not elsewhere classified F30–39, F53 314 27 53 23 44 50 58 59 
			 Neurotic, stress-related and somatoform disorders F40-F48 448 58 60 58 57 75 74 66 
			 Other mental health disorders F00-F29, F50-F52, F54-F99 197 37 34 20 26 31 28 21 
		
	
	Centrally held figures show that during the period 1 April 1997 to 31 March 2003, 1,750 civilian staff have retired due to ill health. It is not recorded how many of this number retired due to mental health disorders.
	The figure is full-time equivalent, this is a measure of the size of the workforce that takes account of the fact that some people work part-time.

Empty Houses

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for how many empty houses his Department is responsible; and if he will make a statement.

Ivor Caplin: holding answer 18 June 2004
	Defence Estates (the Ministry of Defence Agency responsible) is aware of 7,700 empty properties in mainland UK, as at 31 March 2004. Of those:
	over 900 are planned for disposal
	over 1,600 are held for future Service deployments
	some 550 are empty awaiting modernisation
	The remainder are available to let or are under offer to Service families. There may be a relatively small number of additional properties which are empty, for which information is not held centrally.

Land Sales

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether, if he decides to relocate HQ Land away from Wilton, the Crichel Down rules will apply to the sale of the site.

Ivor Caplin: It is the Ministry of Defence's normal policy to consider the application of the Crichel Down rules in all instances when disposing of surplus land. However, application depends on detailed analysis and it would be premature to say whether the rules would apply to the Wilton site.

Medals (Arctic Convoys)

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence who and which Government offices were involved in the recent review of the award of medals to Arctic convoy veterans.

Ivor Caplin: The review was conducted by Defence Ministers, supported by officials. Other Government Departments were not involved, but reference was made to contemporary documents of the Inter-departmental Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals in Time of War.

Medals (Arctic Convoys)

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the up-to-date position is on the award of medals to the Arctic convoy veterans.

Ivor Caplin: I refer my hon. Friend to my reply of 1 March 2004, Official Report, columns 595–96W to my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham, North (Mr. Allen).

Military Vehicles

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many military vehicle drivers have been stopped by the police for speeding on (a) the A303 and (b) the M3 in the past 12 months.

Ivor Caplin: No records are maintained to indicate whether any military vehicle drivers may have been stopped for speeding on the A303 or M3 in the last 12 months.

MOD Sites

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many prospective purchasers have (a) made initial enquiries and (b) negotiated in respect of the Dean Hill site; when he expects to conclude a sale; and if he will make a statement.

Ivor Caplin: Defence Estates has undertaken an expressions of interests campaign ahead of marketing the site. There were 175 initial inquiries, with 54 parties having expressed an interest in acquiring all or parts of the site.
	Our current aim is to market the site in spring 2005, subject to legal advice on whether the former owner (Crichel Down) rules apply.
	No negotiations have yet taken place, but discussions on conservation issues are in progress.

RAF Boulmer

Alan Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much of the land occupied by RAF Boulmer other than for married quarters is (a) publicly owned and (b) rented; and whether any of it is governed by (i) lease conditions under which the landowner can require reinstatement to agricultural condition and (ii) other restrictions which if enforced would lead to a cut to public funds when the lease is surrendered.

Ivor Caplin: holding answer 4 May 2004
	In total, RAF Boulmer comprises an area of some 59 ha, of which around 46 ha is Crown freehold and 13 ha is leased. The station is split into three separate areas: a main site, the old administrative site and an accommodation site.
	The main site is publicly owned. No restrictions apply. The old administrative site, which is also publicly owned, is in the process of disposal and the Ministry of Defence is committed to reinstate it to its original condition. The accommodation site, which includes the Search and Rescue Unit, is partially leased.
	Of this leased area, just over 4 ha could be left as existing or at the landlord's request be returned to original (agricultural) condition. The remainder has to be returned to original (agricultural) condition or compensation paid in lieu.
	It is too early to assess the precise impact on receipts, but this is only one of a number of factors which would be taken into account in taking decisions.

UN Operations

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what ongoing British involvement there will be in Iraq after the 30 June 2004 transfer of power.

Geoff Hoon: Following the assumption of authority by the Interim Iraqi Government on 30 June, British troops will contribute to the Multi National Force carrying out a range of tasks including the provision of security and building the Iraqi security forces. The detailed arrangements under which the Multi National Force will operate are set out in UN Security Council Resolution 1546 and the letters to the Security Council from Prime Minister Allawi and Secretary Powell.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Fire Brigades Union

David Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what part he has played in mediating a settlement between the Fire Brigades Union and the fire authorities.

Nick Raynsford: Following the May 2002 pay claim from the Fire Brigades Union, Ministers encouraged the two sides to reach a negotiated settlement. The June 2003 agreement which ended the firefighters dispute set out a clear path for pay improvement linked to modernisation of the Fire and Rescue Service subject to some further negotiations. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister hopes that the parties will recognise that a negotiated settlement is the only way forward.

Housing

John Pugh: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many housing units were built in 2003–04 in the Pathfinder areas of Merseyside; and how many are expected to be built in 2004–05.

Keith Hill: No housing dwellings were completed in 2003–04 in the Sefton area of the Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder. The forecast for 2004–05 is 52 housing dwellings. In Wirral, 42 dwellings were completed in 2003–04 and the forecast for 2004–05 is 105. Figures are not yet available for the Liverpool Pathfinder area in 2003–04, but the HMRI Delivery Plan forecasts that 1,301 dwellings will be provided over the period 2004–06.

Housing

Adam Price: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many local authorities in England have chosen (a) stock transfer, (b) Arms Length Management and (c) Private Finance Initiative.

Keith Hill: The information is as follows:
	Since 2001:
	(a) 35 local authorities have transferred some or all of their housing stock to Registered Social Landlords, with 29 others on stock transfer programmes that have not yet transferred their stock.
	(b) 33 local authorities have established one or more Arms Length Management Organisations, with 12 other authorities on programmes waiting to do so.
	(c) three local authorities have signed Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contracts for the management of their housing stock, with a further nine local authorities in the procurement stage.
	Included in the figures are 13 local authorities that have chosen two of the available solutions for part of their stock, and one local authority that has used all three programmes.

Housing

Adam Price: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations he has received from local authorities in England seeking direct Government investment options to improve standards in their housing stock.

Keith Hill: Hammersmith and Fulham and Camden are the only local authorities who themselves have requested direct investment from the Government to meet the Decent Homes programme.

Housing

Adam Price: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the number of empty homes in each local authority in England in the last year for which figures are available.

Keith Hill: The information requested has been made available in the Library of the House.

Housing

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the effect of (a) large scale voluntary stock transfers of council housing and (b) Arms Length Management Organisations on the provision of low cost housing.

Keith Hill: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has made no direct assessment since we do not expect the transfer of existing council housing to Registered Social Landlords (RSL) or its management by an Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) in itself to directly affect the provision of low cost housing for key sector workers. Where a local authority receives a receipt from a housing transfer it may be used to contribute towards the provision of additional low cost housing.

Housing

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what policy on investment in decent homes standards is followed by his Department for council homes where the tenants and residents have voted neither to transfer to a registered social landlord nor to establish an Arms Length Management Organisation.

Keith Hill: Stock Transfer, Arms Length Management Organisations (ALMOs) and Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) are the only options available to local authorities and tenants to access any extra resources they need to deliver Decent Homes.
	Where tenants have voted against all these options following full tenant engagement in determining the option voted on, the Government will respect that decision, but no extra funding will be provided. The resources available for investment in Decent Homes will be those currently provided through Housing Subsidy, the Major Repairs Allowance, and what the local authority chooses to make available through the single capital pot and through receipts from any other income.

India

Tam Dalyell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on his official visit to India.

Yvette Cooper: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister will be visiting India later this month on behalf of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister. The visit is an early chance to meet Senior Members of the new Indian Government and to emphasise to them the importance of our strategic partnership with India.

Planning (Fees)

Annette Brooke: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many local authorities in England have introduced fees for pre-planning application consultation; and if he will make a statement.

Keith Hill: No central information is available on numbers of local authorities charging for pre-application advice. Councils may make such charges at the present time under their powers to charge for discretionary services in section 98 of the Local Government Act 2003. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently undertaking a review of the scope and level of planning fees and will be publishing a consultation document later in the summer.

Playgrounds

Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment his Department has made of the impact of European standards (a) BS EN 1176 and (b) BS EN 1177 on (i) the number of playgrounds in the UK and (ii) the cost of maintaining playgrounds by local authority.

Richard Caborn: I have been asked to reply.
	This department has made no assessment of the impact of European standards BS EN 1176 and BS EN 1177 on the number of playgrounds in the UK or on the cost of maintaining those playgrounds.

Rental Property

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the Department's current estimate is of the shortage of houses for affordable rent in each London borough; and if he will make a statement.

Keith Hill: Information on the shortage of affordable houses specifically for rent in London is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. At the end of March 2004, there were 59,000 households in temporary accommodation. Projections for London's population suggest an increase of 336,000 households by 2016. The Mayor's London Plan sets an overall baseline target for the capital of 23,000 new homes per annum (in all sectors and from all sources) and an aspirational target of 30,000 homes per annum. The baseline target is broken down in the London Plan by London borough. The London Plan also has a target that 50 per cent. of new homes should be affordable.

Rental Property

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) council and (b) housing association new dwellings for rent he expects to be completed in the current year in each London borough; and what his expectation is for 2005–06.

Keith Hill: The Housing Corporation estimate the following forecasted rent completions by housing associations in London local authorities in 2004–05 and 2005–06:
	
		
			  Forecasted housing association rent completions 
			 Local authority 2004–05 2005–06 
		
		
			 Barking and Dagenham 47 308 
			 Barnet 50 357 
			 Bexley 12 147 
			 Brent 185 628 
			 Bromley 119 138 
			 Camden 187 189 
			 Corporation of London 0 0 
			 Croydon 199 268 
			 Ealing 214 314 
			 Enfield 217 382 
			 Greenwich 215 301 
			 Hackney 289 514 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 166 283 
			 Haringey 284 429 
			 Harrow 55 76 
			 Havering 87 151 
			 Hillingdon 118 92 
			 Hounslow 79 247 
			 Islington 205 683 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 45 90 
			 Kingston Upon Thames 170 52 
			 Lambeth 226 621 
			 Lewisham 495 361 
			 Merton 83 133 
			 Newham 256 493 
			 Redbridge 82 103 
			 Richmond Upon Thames 138 68 
			 Southwark 311 459 
			 Sutton 175 206 
			 Tower Hamlets 154 800 
			 Waltham Forest 83 221 
			 Wandsworth 102 47 
			 Westminster 132 261 
		
	
	In addition in their Housing Strategy Statistical Appendices returns last year, five London local authorities proposed additional affordable housing completions/acquisitions in 2004–05. These were:
	
		
			 Local authority Proposed affordable housing completions/acquisition (2004–05) 
		
		
			 Croydon 5 
			 Enfield 2 
			 Hillingdon 32 
			 Southwark 100 
			 Wandsworth 56 
		
	
	These data cannot be broken down for local authority new dwelling completions for rent specifically. No data are held for 2005–06.

Working Time Directive

Bill Tynan: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many employees in his Department have (a) signed a formal opt out from and (b) are exempt from the Working Time Directive; and how many employees in his Department have recorded hours, including any accruing on a flexitime basis, in excess of the maximum allowed under the Working Time Directive in the last month for which figures are available.

Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has (a) 28 staff who have signed a formal opt out and (b) no staff that are exempt from, the Working Time Directive. Payroll records show that, in April 2004, 40 staff worked in excess of 48 hours in any given week. The Working Time Directive applies where an average of 48 hours a week has been exceeded over a period of 17 weeks.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister produces quarterly reminders of the Working Time Regulations for staff and overtime statistics are monitored on a regular basis to ensure that staff are not consistently working in excess of 48 hours per week.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Darfur (Sudan)

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what discussions (a) he, (b) members of his Department and (c) representatives of the UK Government in Khartoum have (i) initiated and (ii) had with (A) members and (B) representatives of the Sudanese Government concerning the facilitation of access to Darfur by non-governmental organisations; what specific complaints were raised during those discussions; and if he will make a statement.
	(2)  what assessment his Department has made of the UN Under Secretary-General's statement of 14 June regarding the bureaucratic burden placed on relief agencies trying to reach Darfur in Western Sudan; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  how many complaints his Department has received from representatives of non-governmental organisations relating to access to Darfur in each of the last eight months; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  what assessment his Department has made of the Sudanese Government's policy of removing radio equipment from non-governmental organisations' and United Nations' vehicles seeking access to Darfur; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: DFID is facing a humanitarian emergency in Darfur, where the provision of assistance is absolutely vital. In this context, hindrances to the delivery of humanitarian supplies are unacceptable. The UK has been working to facilitate humanitarian access to Darfur, and our Embassy in Khartoum is engaged on a daily basis with the Government of Sudan, although we are making progress, there is still more that needs to be done.
	I raised the question of issuing visas to Sudan with the Sudanese Foreign Minister in London on 11 May. He gave me a firm commitment that visas for humanitarian personnel working in Darfur would be issued within 48 hours. There has been a marked improvement as a result of this commitment. On 20 May, the Sudanese Government announced the change to a 48 hour notification system for travel to Darfur, replacing the previous requirement for a travel permit. This improvement has also allowed progress on the ground.
	I raised the question of humanitarian access with the First Vice President the Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, and the State Minister for Finance in Khartoum on 8 June, where I was given firm commitments that the Sudanese Government would fast-track customs clearance for humanitarian goods within seven days, and that new international NGOs applying for registration to work in Darfur would be fast-tracked in 10 days. This has resulted in new international NGO registrations. They also agreed that medical supplies that were on an approved list did not need testing before being brought into Sudan. I raised with them the specific complaint from Medecins Sans Frontieres-Holland that 200MT of food and 30MT of medical supplies had been held in Port Sudan for three months. Both Ministers assured me that this would be released within days. This has now taken place.
	Following my visit, the British Ambassador has continued to raise on a regular basis the question of humanitarian access to Darfur, including through letters to the Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and the State Minister in the Ministry for Humanitarian Affairs highlighting specific instances of ongoing bureaucratic difficulties. These included outstanding applications for registration from new international NGOs, the need to give 72 hours notice for passengers on UN flights, the need for clarity about the requirements for testing medical and food supplies, the urgency of releasing radio and communications equipment from customs and the need to issue promptly visas for international health staff. We are calling on the Government of Sudan to consider suspending all regulations relating to humanitarian access to Darfur for a period of three months. The Higher Committee on Darfur will meet on 24 June to discuss humanitarian access where we will raise all the outstanding issues. In addition, I intend to speak to the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs this week.
	The UK Government has been in constant dialogue with UK NGOs working in Darfur since September 2003. DFID has held regular meetings with the Disasters and Emergency Committee in London on Darfur. In Khartoum, the Ambassador has taken the lead in establishing regular meetings with the Government of Sudan, NGOs and donors to discuss the question of access to Darfur. It would require disproportionate work to answer the question of how many complaints were received by NGOs in each of the last eight months.
	DFID has received reports that radios and communications equipments have been held in customs by the Sudanese authorities. Given the essential nature of this equipment for ensuring the safety and security of humanitarian personnel, this is unacceptable. It was raised in the letter from the British Ambassador to the State Minister for Humanitarian Affairs. I intend to follow up closely on the implementation of all the commitments given by the Government of Sudan about humanitarian access to Darfur and will continue to raise specific instances as appropriate.

Afghanistan

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what programmes are supported by his Department to expand and strengthen civil society in Afghanistan.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID is helping to expand and strengthen civil society in Afghanistan by supporting civil society's engagement in the political process. DFID supported the development of the new constitution in 2003 (£500,000). This included an outreach programme to make the wider community aware of the purpose of the Constitution and providing a reasonable understanding of its key features. DFID are now funding Swiss Peace (£500,000) to provide civic education for the Afghan elections and supporting the development of an independent media through our contributions to the Global Conflict Prevention Pool.
	The UK is funding Action Aid (£157,680) to help increase both knowledge and awareness of the rights of women and women's participation in local governance in Afghanistan. Community level women's groups are being established and small grants made available to help build the resources and confidence of women to work together to seek solutions to common problems. These activities are being supplemented and supported by training and information sharing at the provincial level and a nationwide research project looking at the role of women in local governance in Afghanistan.
	DFID also funds Government led national development programmes, which are being facilitated by a range of local and international non-governmental organisations. An example is the National Solidarity Programme (£3 million in 2003–04 with additional funding planned), which is building the capacity of hundreds of village development councils across Afghanistan and providing the resources they need to identify and address their own development priorities.
	DFID also supports the British Agencies in Afghanistan Group (BAAG) here in the UK. This funding helps BAAG act as an effective umbrella group for non-governmental organisations, registered in the UK and working in Afghanistan and also facilitates information sharing and access to Whitehall Departments.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much (a) aid in kind and (b) monetary aid his Department has (i) pledged and (ii) delivered to (A) the Democratic Republic of the Congo and (B) the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (1) in each year since 1997 and (2) in each month since November 2003; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: The following table shows what has been delivered to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), including as aid in kind and monetary aid, from 1997–98 to 2003–04 (latest, provisional figures).
	Until the installation of the Transitional National Government in July last year, most of our assistance had been directed towards meeting the immediate humanitarian needs in DRC, as the table shows. The nature of humanitarian assistance is such that DFID did not pledge an overall amount but delivered assistance as and when it was necessary. Our overall aid framework for DRC in 2003–04 was £23 million—of which over £20 million was delivered, including £3 million as monetary aid.
	DFID does not keep central monthly records of pledges or expenditures nor does it break down expenditure specifically by region within the Democratic Republic of Congo.
	
		£000
		
			 Financial year Monetary aid Technical co-operation Grants and other aid in kind Humanitarian assistance Total DFID expenditure 
		
		
			 1997–98 — 48 6,056 807 6,911 
			 1998–99 — 63 118 370 552 
			 1999–2000 — 49 15 1,257 1,322 
			 2000–01 — 23 38 3,036 3,096 
			 2001–02 — 188 63 5,307 5,558 
			 2002–03 — 1,138 83 11,650 12,871 
			 2003–04 2,990 3,878 320 12,946 20,135 
			 Total 2,990 5,387 6,693 35,373 50,445

Democratic Republic of Congo

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what discussions (a) he and (b) members of his Department have had with representatives of non-governmental organisations concerning the humanitarian situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since he was made Secretary of State for International Development; what concerns were raised; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what representations his Department has received from non-governmental organisations concerning access to the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what assessment his Department has made of the humanitarian implications of the decision by the Government of Rwanda to close its border to the Democratic Republic of Congo; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  what estimate his Department has made of the numbers of refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo in (a) Burundi, (b) Rwanda, (c) Uganda and (d) other countries; how these numbers have changed over the last six months; and if he will make a statement;
	(5)  what assessment his Department has made of the humanitarian impact of the security situation in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo; how this assessment has changed over the last six months; and if he will make a statement;
	(6)  what estimate his Department has made of the number of internally displaced people in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo; how this estimate has changed over the last six months; and if he will make a statement;
	(7)  what plans his Department has (a) drawn up and (b) implemented to help overcome the humanitarian crisis in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: DFID has regular discussions with the UN agencies and NGOs concerning the humanitarian situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Last year, DFID's humanitarian spend was £13 million; this year, a similar amount is available.
	Following the recent reports of the humanitarian impact of the instability and fighting in Eastern DRC, DFID has sent a humanitarian assessment mission to Goma and Bukavu, which arrived on 22 June 2004. This mission intends to assess and respond to the growing humanitarian problem, working alongside our partner UN agencies and NGOs to assist the most vulnerable populations.
	With NGOs and the UN only just getting access into the affected parts of Eastern DRC, there are no verifiable reports on the current numbers of internally displaced people or of refugees in neighbouring countries, or their present locations and requirements. The DFID humanitarian assessment mission hopes to determine both the scale of the problem, and how UK funds can best be used to alleviate this.
	I will write to the hon. Member shortly with further details.

Democratic Republic of Congo

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on aid the UK is sending (a) unilaterally and (b) as part of the EU to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Hilary Benn: For the financial year 2004–05, DFID has made available £34 million in UK bilateral assistance to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In the financial year 2003–04, UK bilateral assistance amounted to over £20 million.
	For 2002–07, the UK-attributed contribution to the European Development Fund framework for the DRC is £17 million. In 2003–04, UK-attributed spend through the EU was £9 million.

Departmental Staff

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many people have left employment in his Department because of (a) anxiety, (b) stress, (c) depression and (d) other mental health reasons in each year since 1997.

Hilary Benn: Given the very small numbers of staff who have been medically retired from DFID on these grounds since 1997 this information is withheld on grounds of individual confidentiality.

HIV/AIDS

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much (a) his Department and (b) the EU are spending in 2004–05 to counter HIV/AIDS in the Russian Federation.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID's forecasted bilateral expenditure on HIV/AIDS in the Russian Federation in financial year 2004–05 is £1.83 million. The EU estimate their expenditure in 2004 will be of the order of €2 to 2.5 million.

Iraq

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development who decided upon the payments from the Development Fund for Iraq to the US Army Corps of Engineers; what it was for; who the principal contractors were; who decided who the principal contractors would be; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: Procurement and contracting under the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI) are the responsibility of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA).
	The CPA has contracted the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to carry out certain emergency and essential work in Iraq, which is co-funded by the DFI and the US Government. Most of the DFI contracts, and most of the contract value, for which the USACE is responsible are in rebuilding gas and hydro-electric power plants and oil infrastructure. The principal contractors to date are: Fluor Intercontinental, Washington International, CH2MHILL, Parsons Iraqi Joint Venture and Kellogg Brown and Root.

Iraq

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list those who have had sole-sourced contracts funded by the Development Fund for Iraq; which contracts are of a value of $1,000,000 or more; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: A list of sole-sourced contracts funded by the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI) is not available at this time.
	The International Advisory and Monitoring Board (IAMB) is currently undertaking an audit of DFI sole-sourced contracts on behalf of the international community. As a member of the Program Review Board of the DFI, the UK has been a strong advocate of international competitive tendering wherever possible.

Iraq

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much has been purchased under the wheat purchase programme funded by the Development Fund for Iraq; at what cost; who was contracted to supply it; what the world price for wheat was at the time of purchase; over what time scale the wheat is supplied; under which disbursement heading it is included; how it is distributed within Iraq; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: The Government of Iraq established the public food distribution system in 1990. This system of untargeted rationing has proved to be hugely costly to the Government and has undermined the country's domestic agriculture. DFID hopes to work with the Iraqi Interim Government and other donors to help reform this system, to the benefit of both Iraq's consumers and farmers, as soon as conditions allow.
	The amount of wheat actually purchased by the Government each year depends on the content of the "ration basket", which is decided by the Ministry of Trade (MOT) each month, depending on domestic production and existing stocks within the country. Published MOT budget information does not show the breakdown of the costs of individual public food distribution items but it is estimated that 3.5 million metric tonnes of wheat flour is required annually for the standard ration basket. Over the 12 months since the creation of the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI), if all of Iraq's public distribution system needs had been met from imports at world prices, the cost would have been around $700 million. This is likely to be an over-estimate since there would be some domestic purchases and use of stocks.
	The major suppliers of wheat to Iraq are Australia and the US.
	International export prices for wheat vary greatly depending on grade and freight distances but an average figure for 2003–04 is about $200/tonne.
	The MOT is responsible for purchasing grain from overseas and from domestic producers, for organising the milling contracts and the transport of the milled wheat flour to food agents.
	The following process describes how the food ration is distributed:
	1. The MOT announces the food basket for the month and calls forward food agents to collect the ration;
	2. Food and flour agents collect the coupons from households and go to the sales centre of warehouses/mills, where they receive an invoice;
	3. Food agents collect foodstuffs from the warehouses/distribution centres;
	4. Wheat flour is transported to flour/food agents, which is paid for by the MOT;
	5. Households then collect the ration from the food/flour agents and pay the nominal fee.

Iraq

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development on what dates the Iraqi Coalition Provisional Authority Program Review Board has met; which meetings were attended by the representative of the Government of the United Kingdom; what votes were conducted at these meetings; what the result was of each vote; and how the UK representative voted on each occasion.

Hilary Benn: The Program Review Board (PRB) meets once or twice each week. Precise dates are shown on the minutes of each meeting which are published on the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) website: iraqcoalition.org/program review board. The UK is represented at all PRB meetings.
	The PRB votes on each project proposal. The minutes do not record the vote of individual members. Proposals pass on a majority or unanimous vote.
	The UK votes in a manner consistent with UNSCR 1483, which established the Development Fund for Iraq (DPI) to be "used in a transparent manner to meet the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people, for the economic reconstruction and repair of Iraq's infrastructure, for the continued disarmament of Iraq, and for the costs of Iraqi civilian administration, and for other purposes benefiting the people of Iraq". In its voting the UK aims to support the intentions of the Iraq Ministries of Finance and Planning and to promote the principles of international competitive tendering.

Iraq

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to his answer of 14 June 2004, Official Report, columns 668–69W, on Iraq, if his Department will obtain a copy of the US Government Agency audits of sole-sourced contracts funded by the Development Fund for Iraq; what provision there is for consideration of the copy audits when the Coalition Provisional Authority no longer exists; who approves contractors for expenditure proposals approved by the Development Fund for Iraq Program Review Board; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: The external audit of the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI) has been delegated by UN Security Council Resolution 1483 (2003) to the International Advisory and Monitoring Board (IAMB). The IAMB acts on behalf of the international community and has requested copies of certain US Government audit reports as part of its current work programme. The IAMB undertakes to make all its proceedings and final reports public (within 30 days of being finalised). UN Security Council Regulation 1546(2004) paragraph 24 provides for the continuation of the IAMB after the dissolution of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) and the return to Iraqi sovereignty.
	The approval of contractors for expenditure proposals endorsed by the Program Review Board of the Development Fund for Iraq is undertaken by the CPA.

Morocco (Earthquake)

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the assistance his Department has offered to the Moroccan Government for the victims of the 24 February earthquake in the Rif region.

Hilary Benn: The earthquake that affected the Al-Hoceima region of Morocco on 24 February 2004 measured 6.5 degrees on the Richter scale. It claimed over 600 lives and injured nearly 1,000.
	UK search and rescue teams were put on immediate stand-by but in the event were not required as the Moroccan civil authorities and Red Crescent movement, supported by some international teams, coped adequately with that phase of the relief effort. Following discussion with the Moroccan Government about priority needs, DFID sent an aircraft with 402 winterised family tents to the earthquake area. The tents were distributed to earthquake victims by the Moroccan Protection Civile, supported by two DFID staff. The cost of the relief flight and tents was approximately £155,000. The European Commission also responded to the relief effort committing approximately £650,000 of support. Including the UK share of this support, the overall UK response was around £280,000.
	On 24 May 2004, the Moroccan Prime Minister, Driss Jettou, announced that the Moroccan Government have earmarked a £165 million budget to rehabilitate and develop the quake-hit north-eastern region.

Russian Federation

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many people employed by his Department have worked on harm reduction programmes (a) for and (b) in the Russian Federation.

Hilary Benn: DFID currently employs nine staff which are involved in our work on HIV/AIDS, including managing harm reduction activities, in Russia. Eight are based in the DFID—Russia office in Moscow, one in London. Five are administrators, four are advisers. Also, over the last five years DFID has employed three Consultancy Companies involving 16 individual experts on four harm reduction projects.

Russian Federation

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the impact on harm reduction programmes supported by his Department in the Russian Federation of the (a) 1995 Federal Law on the Prevention of Dissemination in the Russian Federation of Disease Caused by Human Immunodeficiency Virus and (b) the 1998 Federal Law on Narcotic Means and Psychotropic Substances.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID funded a project entitled "Building Police Support for Harm Reduction" from August 2001 to December 2003. The project was contracted to International Family Health, and its purpose was to involve the Russian police as an integral part of harm reduction strategies. One output of this work was a report by Professor William E. Butler, Professor of Comparative Law, University of London, which sought to examine and clarify a range of issues on harm reduction in Russia from a legal and judicial perspective.
	This report (published by International Family Health : ISBN 0–9545761–0-1) included an assessment of the impact of these and other Russian federal laws on harm reduction programmes in Russia and concluded that the provision of harm reduction services in Russia, in particular services for injecting drug users, is consistent with Russian law. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC), Open Health Institute (OHI), AIDS Foundation East West (AFEW) and others, are continuing to work on the legal issues affecting harm reduction.

Russian Federation

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what account has been taken by (a) his Department and (b) the European Union of Article 15 (4) of the 1993 Constitution of the Russian Federation in support for harm reduction programmes in the federation.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID has taken account of the prevailing view among Russian and international jurists that, on the whole, the Russian Federation has properly fulfilled its international legal duties under relevant international law relevant to harm reduction, including the United Nations Narcotics Conventions.
	The EU is supporting HIV/AIDS projects in Russia, including information, education and communication campaigns and training for health personnel, but is not supporting the provision of targeted harm reduction services for vulnerable groups.

Russian Federation

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list the HIV/Aids projects in the Russian Federation that received financial support from his Department in 2003–04.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The following HIV/AIDS projects in the Russian Federation, including projects not principally related to HIV/AIDS but which contained an HIV/AIDS component, received financial support from DFID in 2003–04:
	
		
			 Project title 2003–04 spend (£) 
		
		
			 Open Health Institute Harm Reduction Bridging Project 1,589,483 
			 Knowledge for Action for HIV/AIDS in the Russian Federation 645,793 
			 United Nations Fund for International Partnerships: Comprehensive Partnership Strategies for HIV/STI Prevention among Young People in the Russian Federation 457,046 
			 Development of a Public Health-Based Approach to the Prevention of Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Samara 75,582 
			 Comprehensive Targeted HIV Prevention and Control Demonstration Project (Design Phase) 42,071 
			 Building Police Support for Harm Reduction 200,519 
			 World Health Organisation: Strengthened Cooperation between Tuberculosis and HIV Control Services in the Russian Federation 100,000 
			 Total 3,110,494

Russian Federation

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will list the harm reduction projects in the Russian Federation that received financial support from his Department in each of the last seven years.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID has provided financial support for the following projects related to harm reduction in the past seven years. The projects marked with an asterisk have supported the provision of harm reduction services to high risk groups:
	
		
			 Project title Purpose Duration DFID funding (£) 
		
		
			 Open Health Institute Harm Reduction Bridging Project* To reduce the transmission of HIV among injecting drug users and commercial sex workers in OHI-supported harm reduction sites in the Russian Federation July 2001- August 2004 3,500,000 
			 Knowledge for Action for HIV/AIDS in the Russian Federation To create the knowledge base on HIV in the Russian Federation necessary to guide effective policy and intervention September 2002-August 2005 1,500,000 
			 United Nations Fund for International Partnerships: Comprehensive Partnership Strategies for HIV/STI Prevention among Young People in the Russian Federation* To reduce the incidence of HIV/STIs among young people, especially girls and young women, by ensuring the availability of and access to information, education, health services, counselling for HIV, testing and commodities required for young people to develop and exercise effective life skills June 2002-November 2004 1,125,000 
			 Development of a Public Health-based Approach to the Prevention of Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Samara* To develop sustainable, high quality STI services in Samara and disseminate successful approaches at federal level September 1998-March 2004 981,146 
			 Prevention of HIV/AIDS among Injecting Drug Users in Sverdlovsk Oblast* To improve and develop preventative public education programmes on HIV/AIDS, with a special focus on injecting drug use April 1998- April 2003 775,334 
			 UNAIDS Regional Harm Reduction Task Force: Capacity Expansion To strengthen the capacity of the UNAIDS Regional Task Force on HIV prevention among injecting drug users in Eastern Europe September 2000-November 2002 450,000 
			 Comprehensive Targeted HIV Prevention and Control Demonstration Project (Design Phase) Design phase. Planned purpose was to establish integrated programmes of targeted HIV prevention activities in two localities at a scale sufficient to control the epidemic and in order to convince policymakers that such investment is worthwhile. October 2002-April 2003 337,787 
			 Building Police Support for Harm Reduction To involve the police as an integral part of harm reduction August 2001-March 2004 489,891 
			 Assistance to the World Bank for the Russia TB/AIDS Control Project Technical assistance for the design of a $150 million World Bank loan on tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS control. May 2000- April 2002 200,000 
			 Harm Reduction Project To reduce transmission of HIV among injecting drug users in Sverdlovsk by developing a co-ordinated harm reduction programme December 1999-March 2001 35,949 
			 11th International Conference on the Reduction of Drug-Related Harm: Project Planning Activities To assist in developing a large-scale project on reducing drug related harm in Russia April 2000- April 2001 60,081 
			 Harm Reduction Conference, New Delhi To provide funding for 20 Russian delegates to attend the Harm Reduction Conference in New Delhi April 2001-October 2001 41,405

Sudan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions he has had with (a) the Government of Sudan, (b) the UN and (c) non-governmental organisation on barriers preventing aid being delivered to Darfur.

Hilary Benn: DFID is facing a humanitarian emergency in Darfur, where the provision of assistance is absolutely vital. In this context, hindrances to the delivery of humanitarian supplies are unacceptable. The UK has been working to facilitate humanitarian access to Darfur and we are making progress, although there is still more that needs to be done.
	I raised the question of issuing visas to Sudan with the Sudanese Foreign Minister in London on 11 May. He gave me a firm commitment that visas for humanitarian personnel working in Darfur would be issued within 48 hours. There has been a marked improvement as a result of this commitment. On 20 May, the British Ambassador met with the Sudanese Foreign Minister, following which he announced the change to a 48 hour notification system for travel to Darfur, replacing the previous requirement for a travel permit. This improvement has also allowed progress on the ground, although there have been some outstanding issues regarding local level implementation and the rules pertaining to notification of passengers on World Food Programme (WFP) flights.
	I raised the question of humanitarian access with the First Vice President, in Khartoum, the Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, and the State Minister for Finance on 8 June, where I was given firm commitments that the Sudanese Government would fast-track customs clearance for humanitarian goods within seven days, and that new international NGOs applying for registration to work in Darfur would be fast-tracked in 10 days. This has resulted in new international NGO registrations. They also agreed that medical supplies that were on an approved list did not need testing before being brought into Sudan. I raised with them the specific complaint from Medecin Sans Frontieres—Holland that 200MT of food and 30MT of medical supplies had been held in Port Sudan for three months. Both Ministers assured me that this would be released within days. This has now taken place.
	Following my visit, the British Ambassador wrote to the Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and the State Minister in the Ministry for Humanitarian Affairs highlighting specific instances of ongoing bureaucratic difficulties about access to Darfur faced by NGOs. These included outstanding applications for registration from new International NGOs, the need to give 72 hours notice for passengers on UN flights, the need for clarity about the requirements for testing medical and food supplies, the urgency of releasing radio and communications equipment from customs and the need to issue promptly visas for international health staff. An inter-agency technical committee on Darfur meets regularly to discuss questions of humanitarian access and is attended by the British Ambassador. The next meeting will take place on 23rd June, where all these outstanding questions will be raised. Following the outcome of that meeting, I intend to speak to the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs.
	On my return from Sudan, I spoke to the UN Secretary General about the need for humanitarian access in Darfur. I have also been in correspondence with the Heads of UN agencies and have spoken to Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF and James Morris, Executive Director of WFP about the experience of their agencies in delivering assistance in Darfur.
	The UK Government has been in constant dialogue with UK NGOs working in Darfur since September 2003. We have held regular meetings with the Disasters and Emergency Committee in London on Darfur, and have been in frequent contact with the Sudanese Embassy. In Khartoum, the Ambassador has taken the lead in establishing regular meetings with the Government of Sudan, NGOs and donors to discuss the question of access to Darfur.

Sudan

Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the recent statements by the UN that the Sudan Government is stopping aid reaching western Darfur.

Hilary Benn: I am gravely concerned about the constraints on humanitarian assistance to Darfur. Despite some improvements to visa and travel notification procedures for Darfur announced on 20 May, NGOs and the UN are still facing bureaucratic problems with customs clearance and notification for travel on UN flights to Darfur. DFID has have been in constant dialogue with the Government of Sudan on this issue. The UK has been working to facilitate humanitarian access to Darfur and we are making progress, although there is still more that needs to be done.
	I raised the question of issuing visas to Sudan with the Sudanese Foreign Minister in London on 11 May. He gave me a firm commitment that visas for humanitarian personnel working in Darfur would be issued within 48 hours. There has been a marked improvement as a result of this commitment. On 20 May, the British Ambassador met with the Sudanese Foreign Minister, following which he announced the change to a 48 hour notification system for travel to Darfur, replacing the previous requirement for a travel permit. This improvement has also allowed progress on the ground, although there have been some outstanding issues regarding local level implementation and the rules pertaining to notification of passengers on World Food Programme (WFP) flights.
	I raised the question of humanitarian access with the First Vice President, In Khartoum the Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, and the State Minister for Finance on 8 June, where I was given firm commitments that the Sudanese Government would fast-track customs clearance for humanitarian goods within seven days, and that new international NGOs applying for registration to work in Darfur would be fast-tracked in ten days. This has resulted in new international NGO registrations. They also agreed that medical supplies that were on an approved list did not need testing before being brought into Sudan. I raised with them the specific complaint from Medecin Sans Frontieres-Holland that 200MT of food and 30MT of medical supplies had been held in Port Sudan for 3 months. Both Ministers assured me that this would be released within days. This has now taken place.
	Following my visit, the British Ambassador wrote to the Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and the State Minister for Humanitarian Affairs highlighting specific instances of on-going bureaucratic difficulties about access to Darfur faced by NGOs. These included outstanding applications for registration from new international NGOs, the need to give 72 hours notice for passengers on UN flights, the need for clarity about the requirements for testing medical and food supplies, the urgency of releasing radio and communications equipment from customs and the need to issue promptly visas for international health staff. An inter-agency technical committee on Darfur meets regularly to discuss questions of humanitarian access and is attended by the British Ambassador. The next meeting will take place on 23 June, where all these outstanding questions will be raised. Following the outcome of that meeting, I intend to speak to the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs.
	On my return from Sudan, I spoke to the UN Secretary General about the need for humanitarian access in Darfur. I have also been in correspondence with the Heads of UN agencies and have spoken to Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF and James Morris, Executive Director of WFP about the experience of their agencies in delivering assistance in Darfur.
	The UK Government have been in constant dialogue with UK NGOs working in Darfur since September 2003. We have held regular meetings with the Disasters and Emergency Committee in London on Darfur, and have been in frequent contact with the Sudanese Embassy. In Khartoum, the Ambassador has taken the lead in establishing regular meetings with the Government of Sudan, NGOs and donors to discuss the question of access to Darfur.

Western Sahara

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what aid he is giving to the World Food Programme support to the Saharan refugee camps.

Hilary Benn: DFID's assistance to the Saharawi refugees is channelled through contributions to the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO), rather than in the form of direct DFID support. DFID believes that this collaborative approach towards funding, alongside our international partners, represents the best way of addressing the problems faced by the refugees' population.
	The EC is in the process of agreeing €8 million of humanitarian aid for the Saharawi refugees living in the Tindouf region for the period of 15 months from 1 June 2004. ECHO has also supported the Saharawi refugees through similar decisions in 2003 and 2002. For the period from 1 June 2004, €6.62 million has been allocated for ensuring the stability of food supplies. The World Food Programme (WFP) is a potential partner for delivery of this assistance but this has not yet been confirmed.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Departmental Publications

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to her answer of 25 May 2004, Official Report, column 1561W, on departmental publications, what body or organisation is responsible for producing each publication.

Patricia Hewitt: The answer is in a table which has been placed in the Library.

Departmental Websites

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total cost of her Department's websites, including those of its agencies, was in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Patricia Hewitt: The cost for the Department's headquarters website, www.dti.gov.uk, is included in the overall service charge paid under the IT service contract which has been in place since April 1999. There is no separation of website costs in this charge. The costs of the agency websites for the financial year 2003–04, including VAT, are:
	
		£000
		
			 Agency Cost 
		
		
			 Companies House 245 
			 The Patent Office 130 
			 The Insolvency Service 53.6 
			 The Small Business Service 275 
			 The Employment Tribunals Service 33.5 
			 The National Weights and Measures Laboratory 36 
		
	
	In addition, I am the sponsor for the cross-departmental Business.gov programme, which includes the Businesslink.gov website. The cost for the development of this major programme in 2003–04, including the former businesslink.org site which it replaced in November 2003, was £14.2 million.

Motorsports

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the effect, in the event of the loss of the British Grand Prix, on (a) revenues in the motorsport sector, (b) jobs in the motorsport sector and (c) outsourcing of research and development and specialist engineering projects to the UK;
	(2)  what assessment her Department has made of the significance of the British Grand Prix to the success of the UK motorsport cluster.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 7 June 2004
	The Motorsport Competitiveness Panel, co-chaired by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and Mr. Paul Barron, made an assessment of all factors influencing the success of the UK motorsport industry. It concluded that retention in the UK of "world-class motorsport events", including the Formula One Grand Prix, the Motorcycle Grand Prix and the Wales Rally GB was important both economically and in maintaining the public profile of the industry.
	The panel's assessment of the direct economic impact in the event that the Formula One Grand Prix were to be lost to the UK was a net loss of £3.4 million income and 230 jobs. This estimate does not take into account any secondary effects on the UK motorsport industry. However, the panel concluded that such effects would be significant. UK-based teams have confirmed that the presence of world-class events and the associated marketing opportunities are important reasons for locating in the UK and the loss of any of these events would lead to a loss of business for UK motorsport companies.
	The Motorsport Panel's full report was published on 11 July 2003 and is available at: http://www.autoindustry.co.uk/docs/motorsportpanelreport.pdf No additional assessment of the issues raised has been made since that time.

Motorsports

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many motorsport companies use Business Links; and how many motorsport companies have applied for research and development tax credits.

Jacqui Smith: This information is not collected centrally hence the information requested cannot be provided except at disproportionate cost.

Motorsports

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what initiatives her Department has undertaken to promote inward investment in the British motorsport industry.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 7 June 2004
	The Department is working as part of the Government Motorsport Unit (GMU) to attract further investment to the UK's world-leading motorsport industry. International trade and inward investment are key areas of delivery for the GMU and £2 million has been set aside to support this work over the next five years.
	Initiatives that have already been undertaken, in collaboration with industry bodies, include promotion of the sector at the annual Autosport Engineering and Performance Racing Industry trade shows in the UK and USA respectively. These activities are designed to encourage overseas joint ventures and alliances by UK companies as well as inward investment. Future initiatives will be undertaken based upon industry priorities.

Motorsports

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps her Department has taken to develop the Motorsport Valley brand for promoting (a) the motorsport industry and (b) motorsport-related tourism.

Jacqui Smith: holding answer 7 June 2004
	In common with other motorsport-related issues, the Department's activities in this area are taken forward through the Government Motorsport Unit (GMU), which includes both central Departments and regional agencies.
	In 2003, the Motorsport Valley brand was used as part of a high-profile inward investment promotion by the four regions concerned (East and West Midlands, South East and East of England). These agencies put forward a united message under the Motorsport Valley banner at the Performance Racing Industry trade show in Indianapolis, USA. The promotion was well received and further plans are being taken forward with the relevant industry bodies.
	The brand is also used to promote motorsport tourism through a website: www.visitmotorsportvalley.com and an associated national motorsport map. These activities aim to reach a broader audience than traditional motorsport enthusiasts. This initiative is once again being taken forward on a collaborative basis by the four regions.

Parliamentary Questions

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 16 June 2004, Official Report, column 959W, on deregulation, what formal assessment her Department has made of the negative economic impact of obsolete EU regulation.

Jacqui Smith: The Department has not carried out a formal assessment of the economic impact of obsolete EU regulation. In part, this obsolete legislation consists of a number of legal acts with time-limited application (e.g. the fixing of agricultural prices in a given harvest year, or the grant of a particular time-limited status, derogation or financial support to a member state or other entity). This type of obsolete legislation would therefore not have an economic impact once it is no longer applicable. The European Commission is currently taking steps to remove such legislation,, along with other measures to secure a reliable, up-to-date and user-friendly body of EC law as described in its February 2003 Communication, "Updating and Simplifying the Community Acquis" (COM (2003) 71).

Steel

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the future of UK steel production and US tariffs on UK steel.

Jacqui Smith: The overall prospects for UK steel production look encouraging. According to the Iron and Steel Statistics Bureau, UK steel production rose by 4.9 per cent. in March 2004 and by 7.2 per cent. to reach 3.3 million tonnes for the first quarter of 2004. The UK monthly total was the second highest in over two years. World demand is strong largely as a result of the expansion of the Chinese economy. In terms of the UK steel market, the most recent CBI Business Survey shows manufacturing in a more positive light with output expected to increase over the next three months at its fastest pace since 1999.
	I am pleased that following a ruling of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body, which was subsequently confirmed by an Appeal Panel, President Bush removed safeguard tariffs on steel on 4 December 2003.

Western Sahara (Oil Exploration)

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the granting of a licence to Wessex Exploration to survey for oil in the occupied land of the Western Sahara; and what the status is of the UN policy towards such exploitation.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 18 June 2004
	I have been asked to reply.
	We regard the sovereignty of Western Sahara as undetermined pending United Nations efforts to find a solution to the dispute over the territory. We fully support the efforts of the UN Secretary-General to find a fair and lasting solution. The UN Legal Counsel gave an opinion on the signing of contracts for exploration of mineral resources in Western Sahara in 2002 (S/2002/161 of 12 Feb 2002). We fully support this advice.
	We are aware of contracts between both the Moroccan Government and the Polisario with various international oil and gas companies. We have not been involved in these deals.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Asylum Seekers

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what policy is in place in respect of returning to Zimbabwe persons residing in Northern Ireland who have had their application for asylum refused, or who otherwise fall outside the criteria for protection under the immigration legislation;.
	(2)  if he will ensure that no persons seeking asylum in Northern Ireland from Zimbabwe will be returned to Zimbabwe against their will.

Des Browne: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend, the Member for Stretford and Urmston (Beverley Hughes) on 23 February 2004, Official Report, column 263W, setting out the Government's position on the return of failed asylum seekers to Zimbabwe. This policy applies equally to Northern Ireland.

Asylum Seekers

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Zimbabwean nationals are residing in Northern Ireland; how many Zimbabwean asylum seekers have been successful on their initial application for asylum; how many cases are under appeal to the Immigration Appellate Authority, the Immigration Appeal Tribunal or higher courts; and how many Zimbabwean asylum seekers who were initially refused have been subsequently successful after exhausting appeal rights.

Des Browne: There were 289 Zimbabwean nationals residing in Northern Ireland in 2001, based on the results of the Northern Ireland Census of 2001.
	As at the end of December 2003 there were 10 Zimbabwean asylum seekers (including dependants) supported in NASS accommodation in Northern Ireland. There were no Zimbabwean asylum seekers in receipt of subsistence only support from NASS in Northern Ireland.
	4,175 initial decisions were made on asylum applications from nationals of Zimbabwe in 2003, of which 870 were granted asylum, 30 were granted Exceptional Leave to Remain, Humanitarian Protection or Discretionary Leave and 3,275 were refused.
	Information on the number of Zimbabwean asylum seekers' cases that are awaiting appeal outcomes is not available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
	Those asylum applicants who were initially refused and have subsequently exhausted their appeal rights are not granted refugee status and therefore are not successful in their application for refugee status. It is theoretically possible that an individual submits further representations post-appeal which leads to a grant but such cases are rare. Information on such cases is not currently available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
	Information in regard to asylum seekers is published in the quarterly web pages and in the annual statistical bulletin "Asylum Statistics United Kingdom", available from the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate web site at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1 .html

Asylum Seekers

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what practical means, with particular reference to air transport, has been arranged for failed asylum seekers to return to (a) Iraq and (b) Zimbabwe; and if he will make a statement.

Des Browne: We announced in February our intention to begin enforced returns to Iraq. We are working to finalise the practicalities of the enforced returns programme, which we will implement as soon as the necessary arrangements are in place.
	In addition since July last year the Home Office has been facilitating, without incident, the return of small numbers of Iraqi citizens who want to return home through the International Organisation for Migration.
	Zimbabwe is the only country to which, as a matter of policy we do not at present generally enforce the return of failed asylum seekers. This policy is based not on asylum or human rights reasons but on our view that in the wider context of the Government's position on Zimbabwe. It would be inappropriate to return failed asylum seekers applicable at this time.

Asylum Seekers

Iain Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of successful asylum applications were made in this country in 2003; and what proportion of those were denied asylum support under section 55 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002.

Des Browne: Information on the UK's share of asylum applications in Europe in 2003 that resulted in grants of refugee status (including appeal outcome) is not available. In terms of applications per head of the population, the UK ranked 9th in Europe in 2003.
	Information on the proportion of applications in the UK in 2003 that resulted in grants of refugee status is not yet available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Outcomes of applications for asylum depend on the merit of individual cases, and situations in countries of origin.
	The eligibility for support under section 55 was considered by the National Asylum Support Service for a total of 14,760 cases in 2003, of which 9,410 asylum seekers (excluding dependants) were notified that they were ineligible. Some applicants notified that they are ineligible for support under section 55, apply nevertheless and these are shown in the published statistics within the "Invalid" support type category. Information on the numbers refused support under section 55 is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	An estimation of the outcomes of applications for asylum in the UK made in 2003, up to and including appeal at the IAA, will be included in the Home Office annual statistical "bulletin Asylum Statistics United Kingdom 2003". It is planned to publish the bulletin at the end of August 2004, and it will be available from the Library or on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www. homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html

Asylum Seekers

Iain Coleman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of asylum seekers denied support under section 55 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 in the first quarter of 2004 who claimed asylum within (a) one, (b) two, (c) three and (d) four days of their arrival in the UK.

Des Browne: Section 55 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 came into force on 8 January 2003, restricting the availability of NASS support to those asylum seekers who make an asylum application as soon as reasonably practicable. From 17 December 2003 my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary announced that those who could give a credible account that their asylum claim was made within three days of arrival in the United Kingdom will normally be accepted as having applied as soon as reasonably practicable.
	The eligibility for support under section 55 was considered by the National Asylum Support Service for a total of 2,650 cases in the first quarter (January–March 2004). The number of asylum seekers, excluding dependants, notified that they were ineligible for NASS support under section 55 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 in the first quarter of 2004 was 890. A breakdown of this figure by the number of days taken to claim asylum after arrival in the UK is unavailable and could be produced only at disproportionate cost. Some applicants notified that they are ineligible for support under section 55 apply nevertheless and these are shown in the published statistics within the "Invalid" support type category.
	Information on the number of asylum seekers supported by NASS is published in the quarterly web pages and in the annual statistical bulletin "Asylum Statistics United Kingdom", available from the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

Asylum Seekers

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will grant asylum applicants from Zimbabwe the right to work while they remain in the United Kingdom.

Des Browne: Generally speaking asylum seekers are not allowed to work while their application for asylum remains outstanding. There remains discretion to grant permission to work in exceptional circumstances. This discretion is exercised sparingly but might be appropriate in cases where an asylum seeker has, through no fault of their own, waited for longer than 12 months for an initial decision on their claim. It would not be appropriate to grant permission to work to asylum seekers based on their nationality.

Asylum Seekers

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many unsuccessful asylum applicants from Zimbabwe, residing in Northern Ireland, have exhausted all appeal rights but have not been returned to Zimbabwe.

Des Browne: Information on the number of asylum seekers who have exhausted their rights of appeal is not readily available and could only be obtained by examination of individual case files to obtain information on the final outcomes from each tier of the appeal process. This would incur disproportionate cost. No information on the number of unsuccessful asylum seekers awaiting removal is available, partly because some applicants may leave the United Kingdom without informing the Immigration Service.

Asylum Seekers

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how long on average current applicants have had to wait to receive their papers after an asylum application has been granted at (a) initial stage and (b) after appeal.

Des Browne: The information requested is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	The latest published statistics show that the speed of processing asylum applications continues to improve significantly. Eighty per cent. of applications (excluding withdrawals and 3rd country cases 1 ) received in the period April to December 2003 had initial decisions reached and served within two months, compared with 74 per cent. of applications in 2002–03, and 61 per cent. of applications in 2001–02. This exceeded the Government's targets of 65 per cent. for 2002–03 and 60 per cent. for 2001–02, and we are on track to exceed the target of 75 per cent. for 2003–04. In 2002–03, 84 per cent. of applications had initial decisions reached and served in four months, and 87 per cent. in six months.
	We are also on track to meet the target of having decisions up to and including appeal made and served on 60 per cent. of applications (excluding withdrawals and 3rd country cases 1 ) in 2003–04.
	Information on the timeliness of initial decisions is published quarterly on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1 .html.
	1 Cases which may be the responsibility of other EU member states under the Dublin Convention.

Asylum Seekers

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what length of time assessors allow for the scrutiny of an application for asylum.

Des Browne: Each asylum claim is considered on its merits and there is no specific time limit for the scrutiny of an individual claim. However, the Government target is to decide and serve 75 per cent. of new asylum applications within two months of the application date. The latest published statistics show that this target is being met. 80 per cent. of applications (excluding withdrawals and 3rd country cases 1 ) received in the period April to December 2003 had initial decisions made and served within two months.
	The number of older applications awaiting an initial decision is falling (18,100 at the end of March 2004) and with present levels of intake and output is on track to be cleared by the end of this year.
	Information on the timeliness of initial decisions is published quarterly on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
	1 Cases which may be the responsibility of other EU member states under the Dublin Convention.

Asylum Seekers

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria are used in assessing asylum applications.

Des Browne: Each application for asylum is considered on its individual merits to determine whether the applicant has demonstrated a well founded fear of persecution in his or her country of nationality for one of the reasons set out in the 1951 Refugee Convention. These are reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. The specific facts of the case are taken into account, along with country information and case law relevant to the claim.

Asylum Seekers

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has held with (a) the Government of Bahrain and (b) governments of other states in the Gulf region concerning Somali people who had sought asylum in Britain and had been deported.

Des Browne: Earlier this year the Immigration and Nationality Directorate signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the United Arab Emirates immigration authorities in Dubai to use Dubai airport as a transit point to effect the return of failed asylum seekers and immigration offenders to destinations world-wide including to Somalia.

Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the (a) agenda and (b) minutes of the meeting of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs of 28 November 2002;
	(2)  who the members of the Statistics, Information and Research Committee of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs were in (a) 2001, (b) 2002 and (c) 2003; and what the professional background of each is;
	(3)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the assessment of the Statistics, Information and Research Committee of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs of the cannabis related articles of the 23 November 2002 edition of the British Medical Journal;
	(4)  if he will place in the Library copies of the (a) agenda and (b) minutes of each meeting of the Statistics, Information and Research Committee of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in 2003;
	(5)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the research of the Statistics, Information and Research Committee of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs that informed the Advisory Council's final report on the reclassification of cannabis.

Caroline Flint: The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) is a statutory independent body established under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (MDA 1971) to advise the Government on drug related issues within the UK. Two of the ACMD's subcommittees—the Technical Committee (TC) and the Statistics, Information and Research Committee (SIRC) held several joint meetings in relation to discussing the reclassification of cannabis. The TC has the broad remit of reviewing the MDA 1971 and the Misuse of Drugs Regulations. As part of this it has responsibility for advising the full Council as to the appropriate classification and scheduling of drugs. SIRC, which was dissolved on completion of the cannabis work, was responsible for monitoring and providing advice on research bearing on drug misuse in the UK and drawing attention to the full Council features which appeared most significant. Included at Annex A, is a list of all SIRC members between 2001 and 2003 with their backgrounds and the organisation which they represented. Also included is a list of all Technical Committee Members during the discussions on cannabis reclassification and their respective background and the organisations that they represented.
	The ACMD's minutes and agendas are not public documents. The published report—"The Classification of Cannabis under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971", published in 2002 represents the considerations and conclusions of the TC, SIRC and the full Council on the reclassification of cannabis. This includes a list of published research material which was taken into consideration. As indicated above, SIRC was disbanded on completion of the cannabis work. However, the articles featured in the British Medical Journal published on 23 November 2002 were closely considered by Professor David Nutt (chair of the ACMD Technical Committee), Sir Michael Rawlins (chair of the ACMD) and Department of Health officials who were content that the advice given by full council to reclassify cannabis was not compromised by the content of the articles.
	Annex A: Membership to the Statistics. Information and Research Committee 2001–03
	Mrs. K. Roberts—Pharmacist
	Dr. M. Donmall—Manchester University Drugs Research Unit
	Dr. N. Dorn—Drugscope
	Ms. V. Evans—Drugscope
	Mr. P. Hayes—National Treatment Agency
	Dr. M. Hickman—Department of Social Science and Medicines
	Professor M. Lader—Psychopharmacology
	Dr. L. King—The Forensic Science Service
	Mr. M. Silver—National Criminal Intelligence Service
	Richard Pates—Clinical Psychiatrist & Chair of the Advisory Panel on Substance Misuse for the Welsh Assembly
	Ms. C. Clancy—Senior Lecturer (Mental Health and Addictions)
	Mr. M. Frischer—Department of Medicines Management, Keele University
	Ms. S. Haw—Health Education Board for Scotland
	Mr. P. Stroner—Scottish Drugs Misuse Database
	Professor J. Strang—Senior Lecturer, Addiction Research Unit
	Ms. K. Barton—SEHD
	Mr. N. Wilson—National Criminal Intelligence Service
	Technical Committee Members during the discussions on the reclassification of cannabis
	Professor D. Nutt—Psychopharmacology, University of Bristol
	Dr. J. Duxbury—Department of Oral Medicine, University of Manchester
	Dr. C. Gerada—General Practitioner
	Dr. N. Gill—Public Health Laboratory Service
	Ms. L. Hewitt—Project Manager, Stockwell Project
	Mr. R. Howard—Drugscope
	Mr. A. Hunter—The Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry
	Professor R. S. Jones—Department of Anaesthesia, University of Liverpool
	Dr. L. King—The Forensic Science Service
	Professor O. Meth-Cohn—Chemist, University of Sunderland
	Dr. D. Paterson—Consultant Psychiatrist
	Professor M. D. Rawlins—Psychopharmacology, University of Newcastle
	Mrs. K. Roberts—Pharmacist
	Dr. S. Reuben—Liverpool Drug Dependence Clinic
	Professor G. Phillips—Chemist
	Dr. S. L. H. Thomas—Regional Drugs and Therapeutics Centre, Newcastle
	Dr. J. Loudon—Health Department, The Scottish Executive
	Dr. M. Griffin—The Forensic Science Service
	Dr. E. Major—Medicines Control Agency
	Mr. R. Treble—Laboratory of the Government Chemist

Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research has been promoted by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in each of the last five years.

Caroline Flint: The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) does not actively promote any external research. It does commission its own research and also considers and references other pieces of work in the course of its research. In the last five years the ACMD has published pieces of research which include: Hidden Harm: Responding to the needs of problem drug users, The Classification of Cannabis under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and Reducing Drug Related Deaths.

Assets Recovery Agency

Angela Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total budget of the Assets Recovery Agency has been since January 2003; and how many staff have been employed.

Caroline Flint: holding answer 22 June 2004
	The Assets Recovery Agency became operational on the 24 February 2003. It received a budget of £13 million in 2003–04 and £15.5 million in 2004–05. The agency employs a total of 131 staff.

Assets Recovery Agency

Angela Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much money has been recovered by the Assets Recovery Agency since January 2003 through civil recovery orders.

Caroline Flint: holding answer 22 June 2004
	The Assets Recovery Agency became operational on 24 February 2003. In its first full year of operation, the agency adopted for action 59 civil recovery cases. These cases have almost £50 million of recoverable assets attributable to them. In 24 of the cases interim receiving orders or freezing orders have been obtained with a total recoverable asset value of £14.1 million.
	The agency has successfully recovered £2,000 in a tax assessment case, £16,000 in a civil recovery order and obtained a confiscation order with a value of £335,000.

Assets Recovery Agency

Angela Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many civil recovery orders have been successfully prosecuted by the Assets Recovery Agency since January 2003.

Caroline Flint: holding answer 22 June 2004
	The Assets Recovery Agency became operational on the 24 February 2003. In its first full year of operation the Agency adopted for action 59 civil recovery cases. A further 27 cases are being assessed for possible civil recovery action. The Agency has successfully completed one civil recovery order. The remaining cases are being taken forward.
	The Agency has also obtained one criminal confiscation order and has assisted the law enforcement authorities in the investigation of 17 confiscation cases.

Body Armour

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice he has received regarding (a) the extent of injury sustained by a person wearing body armour to specification (i) HGIA and (ii) HGI when hit by standard ammunition fired by short-barrelled hand guns and (b) the likely period of disablement and inability to work consequent on such injury.

Caroline Flint: holding answer 21 June 2004
	Comparing two identical shots at the same position on the same person, the injury to the person wearing the HG1A armour is likely to show more severe bruising and trauma.
	It is impossible to predict the exact nature and extent of an injury as this will depend on a number of factors such as the position of the shot and the build and physical condition of the person wearing this armour.

Body Armour

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he has taken with or on behalf of police forces to obtain compensation for forces provided with body armour to specification HGIA instead of HGI as ordered.

Caroline Flint: holding answer 21 June 2004
	This is a matter that the forces themselves have taken up with the manufacturer. I understand that the manufacturer has offered free upgrades to restore the armour to its original specification to all forces involved.

Cannabis

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has for a review of the effect of the reclassification of cannabis.

Caroline Flint: The Government reclassified cannabis as a Class C drug earlier this year following advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, to allow the police to focus on Class A drugs which do the most harm. The Home Office is working closely with police forces to monitor the policing of drug offences since cannabis was reclassified and early figures are encouraging. As more robust data becomes available a more thorough assessment of the impact of reclassification will be undertaken.

Coroner's Court (North Yorkshire)

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the work of the coroner's court in North Yorkshire.

Paul Goggins: There are two coroner's districts within the county of North Yorkshire. York unitary authority, which was formally within that county, has its own coroner. I recently wrote to the hon. Member about a constituency case involving the latter and have asked officials to explore issues relating to that case. I have no current plans to make a statement.

Coroners

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what role the Government have in setting limits or determining the appropriate charge to be levied by Her Majesty's Coroners upon bereaved relatives and other interested parties in payment for photocopying of documents and statements to be disclosed under Rule 37 of the Coroners Act 1988; when the level of the charge was last reviewed; and what relief is available for individuals on low incomes;
	(2)  if he will take into account (a) transparency in the inquest process and (b) access for those with limited means when determining the appropriate charge to be levied by Her Majesty's Coroners upon (i) bereaved relatives and (ii) other interested parties in payment for photocopying of documents and statements to be disclosed under Rule 37 of the Coroners Act 1988.

Paul Goggins: The Government prescribe the fees payable to coroners for supplying copies of inquisitions, depositions, post mortem examination reports or other documents relating to an inquest. These fees are set out in the Coroner's Records (Fees for Copies) Rules 2002 and followed discussions on the appropriate level with the Coroners Society. Coroners have powers to waive any fee in cases of hardship and have been advised that no charge can be made in respect of providing a copy of any document where an inquest has not been held.

Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to reply to the letter of 4 May from the hon. Member for Walsall, North regarding a constituent, ref 5120/4.

Des Browne: holding answer 10 June 2004
	I wrote to my hon. Friend on 24 June 2004.

Correspondence

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when officials at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate will reply to letters from the hon. Member for Vauxhall dated 25 March and 20 May about a constituent, reference number O165652.

Des Browne: The Immigration and Nationality Directorate wrote to my hon. Friend on 11 June 2004.

Correspondence

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when officials at the Immigration and Nationality Directorate will reply to a letter from the hon. Member for Vauxhall dated 4 March about a constituent, reference number B508994.

Des Browne: The Immigration and Nationality Directorate wrote to my hon. Friend on 17 June.

Criminal Prosecutions (Merseyside)

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful criminal prosecutions were brought for crimes perpetrated in each Merseyside constituency in each of the last three years; and how many criminal charges were pressed for crimes perpetrated in Crosby in each of the last three years.

Paul Goggins: Information on criminal prosecutions for crimes perpetrated in particular areas is not available; rather, the information relates to offenders prosecuted in particular areas.
	Nor are statistics of defendants charged with offences collected centrally. It is also not possible to break down the court proceedings data collected centrally to constituency level (because constituencies do not coincide with petty sessional areas).
	The following table, however, gives the number of defendants (a) convicted and (b) not convicted in the Merseyside police force area as a whole.
	
		Defendants convicted and those not convicted of offences of all types at all courts in the Merseyside police force area, 2000–2002 
		
			  Defendants convicted Defendants not convicted(5) 
		
		
			 2000 40,375 15,704 
			 2001 41,372 16,120 
			 2002 44,126 13,240 
		
	
	(5) Includes defendants whose proceedings were discontinued, those discharged under Sec 6 MCA 1980, and those whose charges were withdrawn, dismissed or acquitted.
	Statistics for 2003 will be published in the autumn.

Cycling

John Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice is given by his Department to police forces in England and Wales about the enforcement of legislation which prohibits cycling on footpaths.

Caroline Flint: Chief officers of police are best placed to assess the level, nature and causes of cycling offences locally and decide the response.
	Police officers will take action as appropriate against cyclists whom they see breaking the law in this way. Forces also sometimes undertake short, intensive campaigns to deal with persistent cycling offenders.
	To help enforcement we have given community support officers the power to issue £30 fixed penalty notices for cycling inconsiderately or on the pavement

Cycling

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will encourage pedestrians who are knocked over by cyclists on footpaths and pavements to report the incident to the police.

Caroline Flint: Cycling on the footpath is an offence under section 72 of the Highways Act 1835. The police will enforce the offence as appropriate. As with other offending we would encourage members of the public to give evidence of specific problems and of particularly dangerous behaviour to the police. This will help ensure that the police target their responses effectively.

Departmental Press Officers

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many press officers were employed in his Department in each year from 1990–91 to 2003–04; what the total cost was in each year; and if he will make a statement.

Fiona Mactaggart: Records of numbers and costs before 1996–97 have not been kept.
	Press office numbers and costs for the following years are outlined as follows:
	
		
			  Numbers Cost (£) 
		
		
			 1996–97 16 369,000 
			 1997–98 13 332,000 
			 1998–1999 13 329,000 
			 1999–2000 16 345,000 
			 2000–01 (6)31 863,000 
			 2001–02 (7)35 1 million 
			 2002–03 39 1.7 million 
			 2003–04 39 1.9 million 
		
	
	(6) Expansion of the Home Office press office followed an external consultant's review of its staffing and operation in 1999 and recommended the creation of the Newsdesk so as to better meet the demands of the media. This improved efficiency from "losing' in excess of 20 per cent. of the calls pre expansion, to a position where from June 2003 to June 2004 91.8 per cent. of the 67,070 press calls received by the Newsdesk were answered.
	(7) The Home Office press office and the prison service press office merged in May 2001.

Domestic Violence

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what review has been made of his Department's definition of domestic violence as promised in the Summary of responses to Safety and Justice: The Government's proposals on domestic violence.

Paul Goggins: A review was undertaken within the context of work to address the specific needs of minority communities. The definition has been widened to incorporate violence by family members as well as between adults who are, or were, intimate partners. This was done to ensure that those issues of chief concern to BME communities, such as so-called "honour crimes" are properly reflected.
	Following the review, a common Government definition of domestic violence was agreed. It follows the definition used by the Association of Chief Police Officers, and is:
	"Any incident of threatening behaviour, violence or abuse (psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional) between adults who are or have been intimate partners or family members, regardless of gender or sexuality."

Domestic Violence

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when his Department expects to complete its research into the links between domestic violence and substance misuse.

Caroline Flint: Research into the links between substance abuse and domestic violence has been commissioned and is being undertaken by the School of Health and Social Studies at the University of Warwick. We expect the research to be completed by the autumn.

Drug Dealers (Assets Seized)

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total of assets seized from convicted drug dealers was in each of the last three years.

Caroline Flint: The information requested is not yet available for the year 2003–04. The total of assets confiscated from convicted drug dealers in each of the previous three years is as follows:
	
		
			  Amount Confiscated(£) 
		
		
			 2000–2001 11,757,000 
			 2001–2002 11,873,000 
			 2002–2003 20,905,000 
		
	
	The total amount obtained from confiscation orders in each of these years is £19,833,000 in 2000–01; £20,609,000 in 2001–02; and £41,008,000 in 2002–03.

Drugs Misuse (Rochdale)

Lorna Fitzsimons: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what public funds were spent on tackling drugs misuse in the parliamentary constituency of Rochdale in (a) 1997–98 and (b) 2003–04; and what percentage of funding in each case was targeted at the ethnic minority community.

Caroline Flint: Breakdown of financial allocation to local constituencies is not available in the form requested as funding is allocated to drug action team (DAT) area. In this case Rochdale DAT which covers Rochdale, Oldham East and Saddleworth and Heywood and Middleton.
	The period for 1997–98 is prior to the formation of the National Drug Strategy and there is no locally held information on funding available for that financial year. As a result it is not possible to provide information on the amount of funding targeted at black and ethnic minority communities at this time.
	In 2003–04 the total drugs allocation for Rochdale DAT was £1,869,000. In order to ensure consistency figures supplied are based on funding streams associated with the National Drug Strategy and are readily verifiable. These funding streams are specifically targeted at tackling the harm caused to individuals, families and communities by the misuse of drugs. Other mainstream funding is made available at a local level, this varies and both in amount and origin as a result it is not possible to provide robust financial information.
	
		£
		
			  2003–04 
		
		
			 Partnership capacity 68,000 
			 Treatment pooled budget 1,023,000 
			 Criminal Justice Interventions Programme—capacity 178,000 
			 Through care after care 62,000 
			 Building safer communities(8) 297,000 
			 Young people 241,000 
			 Total 1,869,000 
		
	
	(8) Contains non drug elements
	During 2003–04, there were three specific black and ethnic minority services provided in the Rochdale area.
	Two were funded by the DAT, the DAFAY project and a community interactors project, in total the funding amounted to £70,000. The DAFAY project works with young black and ethnic minorities on an outreach basis, offering one-to-one and group counselling services for substance misuse problems. The community interactors project has recruited six volunteers from local black and ethnic minority communities to provide drugs awareness to young people and parents and act as a liaison point between drugs services and the community. The third service, the EDEN project, works with adult black and ethnic minorities and is funded by the National Lottery Fund.
	All the services in the Rochdale area will work with black and ethnic minorities so a proportion of the total budget will be spent on black and ethnic minority communities, however this is difficult to quantify.

Drugs Misuse

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what public funds were spent on tackling drugs misuse in Stoke-on-Trent North in (a) 1997–98 and (b) 2003–04.

Caroline Flint: Breakdown of financial allocation to local constituencies is not available in the form requested as funding is allocated to Drug Action Team (DAT) area. In this case Stoke on Trent DAT which covers Stoke on Trent North, Central and South.
	The period for 1997–98 is prior to the formation of the National Drug Strategy and there is no locally held information on funding available for that financial year.
	In 2003–04 the total drugs allocation for Stoke on Trent DAT was £2,039,718. In order to ensure consistency figures supplied are based on funding streams associated with the National Drug Strategy and are readily verifiable. These funding streams are specifically targeted at tackling the harm caused to individuals, families and communities by the misuse of drugs. Other mainstream funding is made available at a local level, this varies and both in amount and origin as a result it is not possible to provide robust financial information.
	
		
			  2003–04(£) 
		
		
			 Partnership Capacity 70,467 
			 Treatment Pooled Budget 1,341,800 
			 Through Care After Care— Pump Priming 35,000 
			 Building Safer Communities(9) 397,891 
			 Young People 194,560 
			 Total 2,039,718 
		
	
	(9) Contains non drug elements

Durham Jail

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  when he last visited Durham jail;
	(2)  when Durham jail was last inspected;
	(3)  how many governors there have been at Durham jail since 1 May 1999;
	(4)  what the average length of service at any one prison has been of the current governor of Durham jail;
	(5)  how many prisoners absconded from Durham jail in each year since 1 January 1997;
	(6)  how many hours of the prisoners' day at Durham jail was devoted to purposeful activity in the last year for which figures are available;
	(7)  how many staff at Durham jail have been on sick leave in each month since 1 May 2003.

Paul Goggins: The current Home Secretary has not visited Durham prison, however, as Minister for Correctional Services, I visited on 19 March 2004. Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons last inspected Durham male prison between 19 and 22 August 2003 and the female prison between 5 and 9 January 2004. Mike Newell, has been the governing governor of Durham prison since May 1999, prior to that he was governor of Hull prison between March 1996 and May 1999. Since January 1997 there have been no escapes or absconds from Durham. Data show that each prisoner had an average of 18 hours purposeful activity each week.
	In the last 12 months the following numbers of staff have been on sick leave each month:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 May 2003 89 
			 June 2003 87 
			 July 2003 97 
			 August 2003 106 
			 September 2003 100 
			 October 2003 125 
			 November 2003 115 
			 December 2003 103 
			 January 2004 118 
			 February 2004 100 
			 March 2004 102 
			 April 2004 96

Entry Clearance

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will announce proposals on the entry of (a) priests and (b) imams to the UK.

Des Browne: We are currently consulting faith communities on a package of proposals, including modernising the arrangements governing entry to the UK by overseas Ministers of Religion. The details of the new arrangements will be announced shortly.

Everim Ciftci

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to process Mrs. Everim Ciftci's application, reference 21004974, for leave to remain in the United Kingdom.

Des Browne: I wrote to the hon. Member on 24 June 2004.

Forensic Science

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crimes in Lancashire have been investigated by (a) the Forensic Science Services and (b) a private company in the last 12 months.

Hazel Blears: In the year 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004, the number of crimes committed in Lancashire in which some forensic analysis was provided by either the Forensic Science Service or some other private sector organisation was as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Forensic Science Service examinations 2,314 
			 Other agencies 1,980

G8 Summit

John Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the Home Office will be responsible for security arrangements at the G8 Summit in 2005.

Hazel Blears: Overall operational planning and co-ordination for security at the 2005 G8 Summit will be undertaken by the Chief Constable, Tayside Police. Assistance will be provided by a number of other forces and police units, as well as central Government Departments and Agencies, including the Home Office.

Green Burials

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what financial incentives exist to encourage the use of ecologically-friendly green burials involving the use of freeze-drying human remains and burying them in environmentally-friendly coffins.

Paul Goggins: The Government believe that the public should have a realistic and fair choice in the funeral arrangements for their relatives, and it does not therefore, provide financial incentives for one form of disposal over another. However, as outlined in the current consultation exercise "Burial law and policy in the 21st Century: the need for a sensitive and sustainable approach", sustainability is an important issue. We understand that the system of freeze-drying remains is still awaiting approval for use in Sweden, where the system was created. Nevertheless, the development of alternatives to the traditional choices of burial or cremation, and particularly alternatives which are more environmentally friendly, should be given careful consideration.

High Speed Pursuits

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent guidance he has issued to chief constables concerning high speed pursuits.

Caroline Flint: The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) launched in March new guidance for the management of pursuits. I welcome this.
	The ACPO guidance, produced in consultation with the Police Complaints Authority (now the Independent Police Complaints Commission), is designed to help ensure that pursuits can be resolved quickly and safely for everyone involved. It will help ensure development of a coherent policy that maximises safety for all those involved. Its guidelines stress the importance of considering each pursuit individually, according to the developing circumstances, with decisions being made on the basis of the changing information available. The guidance fully recognises that there may be occasions when it is better to discontinue a pursuit on the grounds of public safety.
	Work continues to ensure that the correct training is provided in the police service, that there are adequate management controls, and that robust risk assessments are in place to ensure that safety is maintained at all times.

Holloway Prison (Suicides)

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases of (a) self-harm, (b) suicide and (c) attempted suicide have been recorded at HM Prison Holloway in each of the past five years; and what discussions he has held with the governor and staff concerning these figures.

Paul Goggins: The information requested about self-inflicted deaths and self-harm is provided in the following table. Suicidal intent is not easy to establish. The reasons why people self-injure are highly complex, and it is difficult to distinguish between acts of self-harm that were attempts at ending life, and those that occurred for other reasons. It is not possible, therefore, for the Prison Service to determine from the general figures recording incidents of self-harm those acts that could be described as attempts at suicide. The figures for self-harm in the table therefore include all acts of self-harm, however serious.
	
		
			  Number of self-inflicted deaths(10) Number of recorded incidents of self-harm(11) 
		
		
			 1999 2 248 
			 2000 1 122 
			 2001 1 542 
			 2002 1 765 
			 2003 0 (12)851 
		
	
	(10) The Prison Service employs the term "self-inflicted death" rather than suicide. This includes all those deaths where it appears the person acted intentionally to take his/her own life.
	(11) The figures provided are number of incidents of self-harm, not number of individuals.
	(12) In December 2002, a new form for reporting self-injury (the F213SH) was introduced across the prisons estate in England and Wales, which is known to have improved reporting practices. Please note therefore that much of the increase in reported self-harm in 2003 may result from the change in reporting procedures rather than reflect an actual increase in incidence of self-harm.
	In 2004 to 16 June, there have been two apparently self-inflicted deaths at Holloway; the number of incidents of self-harm is not yet available.
	My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, visited Holloway in April 2004, and I visited the establishment in October 2003. We both had the opportunity to talk with the Governor, with a number of prison staff from a variety of disciplines, and with groups of prisoners. It was clear from our wide-ranging discussions that Holloway is dealing with a large number of vulnerable women, many of whom enter custody already struggling to cope with a wide range of difficult issues that increase their likelihood of suicide and self-harm. These include mental health, drug and alcohol problems; histories of abuse, troubled relationships and social exclusion; as well as past experiences of self-harm.
	Both my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary and I were impressed with Holloway's First Night in Custody Project, which focuses on the needs of women at the vulnerable stage of entry into prison. The Project was set up in October 2000 and is run by the Prisoner Advice and Care Trust. It employs a full-time project worker and two link workers to help identify women at risk of self-harm or suicide. The project sees over 100 prisoners a month and makes referrals to services in and outside the prison on housing needs, mental health problems, drug or alcohol problems.
	Holloway is also one of the three prisons currently piloting Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), an innovative programme developed for women with 'borderline personality disorder' who also self-harm or engage in suicidal behaviours.
	20 safer cells are to be installed at Holloway by October 2005. Safer cells, which are manufactured and installed to make the attachment of ligatures very difficult, have been found effective in preventing impulsive suicide attempts.
	Across the prisons estate, women prisoners are to benefit from a specifically targeted and separate suicide prevention and self-harm management strategy being developed for them. This draws upon specialist knowledge of suicidal behaviour among women prisoners, and builds upon a number of interventions including: individual crisis counselling for women prisoners who self-harm; the continued development and evaluation of DBT; investment and planning to ensure progress on the detoxification strategy in women's prisons; and the introduction of a new training pack for all staff working with women in custody, which includes a module on the health and well-being of women prisoners. £1 million from the Department of Health has been allocated to women's prisons to be spent on the recruitment of psychiatric nurses.

Illegal Immigrants (Employers)

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many employers have been fined for employing illegal immigrants under section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 in each year since 1997.

Des Browne: Information on the number of employers in the UK who were prosecuted for employing illegal immigrants is not available and therefore information on the numbers of these employers successfully prosecuted is not available.
	However information on persons proceeded against for employing a person subject to immigration control under section 8 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1996, together with the penalties imposed, is shown in the table.
	Information on those people proceeded against under the Immigration Acts between 1997 and 2002 was published on 27 November 2003 in the command paper "Control of Immigration:
	Statistics United Kingdom 2002" (Cm 6053), a copy of which can be found in the Library of the House. Comparable statistics for 2003 will be published later this year in the command paper "Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2003".
	
		Number of persons proceeded against and those found guilty of offences under section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996, England and Wales 1997 to 2002
		
			 Offence description Statute  Persons(13) proceeded against Number of offences involved Persons(13) found guilty Persons(13) fined Persons(13) not separately dealt with (14) 
		
		
			 Employing a person subject Asylum and Immigration 1997 — — — — — 
			 to immigration control Act 1996 section 8. 1998 1 1 1 — 1 
			 who has attained the age  1999 4 23 1 1 — 
			 of 16  2000 10 32 4 4 — 
			   2001 5 65 1 1 — 
			   2002 2 22 1 1 — 
		
	
	(13) Principal immigration offence basis.
	(14) Indicates that a substantive penalty has been imposed on a non-immigration offence dealt with at the same time.

Justice and Home Affairs Council

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the outcome was of the Justice and Home Affairs Council held on 8 June; what the Government's stance was on the issues discussed, including its voting record; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Flint: I represented the United Kingdom at the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council in Luxembourg on 8 June.
	Police and Judicial co-operation
	Further to the European Council Declaration on Terrorism the JHA Council noted a number of papers, including a draft report to the European Council on the implementation of previously agreed instruments; a draft Action Plan listing the actions to be taken by who within the EU and by when; and two discussion papers by the Counter Terrorism Co-ordinator, Gijs de Vries. The Council also adopted Council Conclusions noting action taken since the European Council and requesting further work.
	Along with the majority of other member states I supported the report on intelligence capacities by the Secretary General Javier Solana. In addition I set out the UK's five priorities on practical Counter-terrorist co-operation. Firstly, that all member states should be able to exchange information through the Visa Information System. Secondly/that there needed to be interoperability between EU and national databases. Thirdly, that all member states should be actively involved with the European Borders Agency. Fourthly, that all member states need to include biometrics in passports and, finally, that the EU needs to find a way of taking action on security measures on ID cards.
	Commissioner Vitorino then presented the Communication on the implementation of measures agreed at the Tampere Council in 1999 and highlighting the positive work done, notably on migration and counter-terrorism. Emphasising that the new College and JHA Commissioner would have their own views on the future JHA programme, Vitorino identified integration of the new member states into Schengen, and action at the EU's external border to combat illegal immigration and trafficking as important areas for future JHA action. He also saw a need for further work on common standards for criminal procedural law, on data protection and on rules on evidence in cross-border prosecutions. Finally, he identified the need for better evaluation and implementation of adopted legislation.
	A minority of member states then gave initial reactions to the document and set out some of their priorities. The Netherlands indicated that they expected the June European Council to task the JHA Council with developing an appropriate response to the Commission's Communication. They therefore asked for written comments from member states and indicated that there would be further Ministerial discussion of the Communication at the July JHA Council.
	The Council reached a general approach on the Framework Decision on mutual recognition of confiscation orders. The Presidency commended work done so far to prepare the future EU drugs strategy 2005–12. There was no decision on who should be the director of Europol.
	Under Any Other Business Germany noted that all member states were welcome to join the recent common declaration by Germany, the Benelux countries and Austria on efforts to improve practical law enforcement co-operation. Immigration and Asylum
	Following agreement, welcome to the UK, that it could be used by member states to support resettlement schemes the Council reached agreement on the Council Decision to establish the European Refugee Fund.
	In addition, the Council adopted the Council Decision establishing the Visa Information System and Council Conclusions setting out the elements for establishing preparatory actions for a financial instrument for managing returns. A General Approach was reached on the Council Recommendation on facilitating the admission to the EU of scientific researchers.
	The Commission presented two Communications. The first on the links between legal and illegal migration focused on economic migration, bilateral labour agreements and regularisation measures but concluded that the impact of legal migration measures on illegal immigration was impossible to quantify.
	The Commission indicated that, later this year, they planned to issue a Green Paper on the extent to which the admission of economic migrants should be regulated at EU level, but noted that there was no consensus on the (Italian Presidency's) idea of an EU migration quota.
	The second communication on the entry to the EU of people in need of international protection focused on enhancing protection capacity in the regions of origin and resettlement in the EU.
	I welcomed the Communication and made clear that although our earlier proposals on zones of protection had been a useful contribution to the debate, our thinking had moved on and we were no longer pushing them. Two other member states intervened: one to support the communication and the second to oppose. The Presidency therefore concluded that there would be further debate at the July JHA Council.
	During the Mixed Committee the Presidency sought views on whether the draft Regulation on standards for security features and biometrics in passports should require one or two mandatory biometric identifiers, and whether the second identifier—be it mandatory or optional—should be fingerprints. I pointed out that the UK is currently running trials of the different technologies and that it would be better to wait for the results before deciding what the second identifier should be. Although two other member states supported me, a majority supported fingerprints as a second indicator although there was no consensus as to whether this should be mandatory. The Presidency concluded that further work should proceed on the basis of one mandatory biometric identifier, the facial image, and a second optional indicator, namely fingerprints.
	In the margins of the Council Ministers agreed an intergovernmental resolution calling for certain linguistic changes to be made to member states' passports to take account of EU enlargement and calling on the new member states to start issuing EU formatted passports from 1 January 2007.
	Finally, the list of A points as in 10120/04 PTS A 28 was adopted. A copy has been placed in the Library.

Metropolitan Police

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the crime clear-up rates in the Metropolitan Police Force area were in each of the last six years, broken down by London borough.

Hazel Blears: Clear up rates in the Metropolitan Police Force area are as set out in the following table.
	
		Percentage
		
			  1998–1999 1999–2000 2000–2001 2001–2002 2002–2003 2003–2004 
		
		
			 Barking and Dagenham 19.1 14.3 13.3 13.5 17.6 16.8 
			 Barnet 22.2 16.1 17.3 16.6 13.3 13.6 
			 Bexley 17.4 13.7 12.6 12.5 14.8 15.3 
			 Brent 20.6 13.1 12.4 13.9 12.1 14.5 
			 Bromley 20.3 14.0 12.9 13.4 14.1 16.5 
			 Camden 23.3 16.4 14.4 12.2 13.5 16.6 
			 Croydon 21.8 16.1 16.5 13.8 14.3 14.7 
			 Ealing 23.1 17.5 15.5 16.4 17.3 15.8 
			 Enfield 21.6 13.0 15.1 13.1 15.4 14.5 
			 Greenwich 23.0 19.5 19.4 16.4 13.9 13.2 
			 Hackney 22.5 15.0 13.8 14.9 14.8 13.3 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 21.0 15.0 14.0 14.8 13.7 16.3 
			 Haringey 22.0 22.2 23.0 19.2 22.5 20.4 
			 Harrow 26.3 18.0 17.1 14.3 14.2 14.5 
			 Havering 24.2 17.7 14.5 15.1 16.3 16.3 
			 Heathrow Airport 35.4 27.6 29.9 26.8 25.5 26.4 
			 Hillingdon 16.8 11.9 11.8 11.9 13.1 15.0 
			 Hounslow 18.3 13.5 14.0 13.2 13.8 15.1 
			 Islington 21 2 14.8 16.4 14.5 12.1 15.2 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 21.6 13.2 13.3 15.6 17.3 17.1 
			 Kingston upon Thames 27.0 20.8 18.0 17.2 14.8 14.1 
			 Lambeth 18.2 12.8 10.9 9.0 11.6 15.5 
			 Lewisham 20.9 19.0 19.5 17.7 16.9 16.5 
			 Merton 18.5 15.8 14.4 13.8 11.9 17.3 
			 Newham 18.5 13.9 13.8 14.0 13.9 13.8 
			 Redbridge 19.5 12.3 11.7 10.3 11.2 14.3 
			 Richmond upon Thames 15.7 14.0 13.8 14.5 14.9 13.5 
			 Southwark 25.7 18.5 15.0 13.3 12.6 13.1 
			 Sutton 26.1 19.8 19.0 16.1 16.1 15.2 
			 Tower Hamlets 22.9 16.5 13.9 12.6 11.8 11.8 
			 Waltham Forest 24.0 19.2 17.3 13.3 13.3 13.7 
			 Wandsworth 15.2 12.9 12.0 12.5 17.1 15.8 
			 Westminster 22.9 16.5 14.5 13.8 14.3 17.6

Neighbourhood Watch

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department who would be responsible, in the event of the closure of the National Neighbourhood Watch Association, for running a national support network for the Neighbourhood Watch movement; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: The Home Office has made contingency arrangements for the Crime Reduction Centre to provide website and telephone advice in the event of the National Neighbourhood Watch Association's closure.
	In the longer term, all the stakeholders that make up the Neighbourhood Watch partnership: the Police, community safety departments in local authorities and the many members of Neighbourhood Watch schemes should have a say in how any future support network should be run.

Neighbourhood Watch

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements are planned for the data used by local neighbourhood watch associations held by the National Neighbourhood Watch Association (NNWA) in the event that the NNWA is dissolved.

Hazel Blears: The Home Office has not had any discussions with the National Neighbourhood Watch Association (NNWA) about any data it holds.
	No arrangements are planned, but the Home Office is willing to discuss this matter with NNWA or neighbourhood watch associations.

North London Mosque

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 12 May 2004, Official Report, column 351W, on North London Mosque, what arrangements were in place to ensure that accurate translation of the preaching delivered was obtained.

Caroline Flint: The Commissioner for the Metropolis reports that the preaching outside the North London Mosque is generally conducted in English. However, arrangements are in place to translate material collected by police evidence gathering teams.

Operation Hartley (South-West)

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on Operation Hartley on the bearing down on illegal raves and festivals in the south west; and what action has so far taken place, including the number of arrests.

Caroline Flint: Avon and Somerset police inform me that Operation Hartley is an initiative operating across Avon and Somerset, Wiltshire, Dorset, Gloucestershire and Devon and Cornwall police forces areas. It is designed to proactively target organisers of illegal raves and music festivals and to provide a rapid and co-ordinated response to illegal raves. The aim of the operation is, where possible, to prevent illegal raves taking place thereby minimising disruption and nuisance caused to local communities.
	It involves a combined intelligence gathering initiative and an agreed protocol to allow the pooling of police resources, where appropriate, to ensure rapid and effective enforcement action. The number of arrests already made is not yet available.

Overseas Doctors

Evan Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will grant overseas doctors in training working in the NHS permit-free postgraduate training status for a minimum period of one year, or for the duration of their post, whichever is longer.

Des Browne: Overseas doctors applying to carry out postgraduate training in the United Kingdom are already granted leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom for the duration of their post or the duration recommended by the Postgraduate Dean, up to a maximum of 12 months or three years depending on whether they are eligible for provisional or full registration with the General Medical Council. It would then be open to them to apply for further leave, up to the maximum permitted in the Immigration Rules.

Parliamentary Questions

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the question of the hon. Member for Woking, reference 177009.

Des Browne: holding answer 18 June 2004
	I replied to the hon. Member on 22 June 2004, Official Report, column, 1380W.

Police

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers were assaulted while on duty in Lincolnshire in each year since 1997.

Hazel Blears: The available information relates to recorded offences of assault on a constable and is given in the table. Statistics are not available prior to 1998–99.
	
		Recorded offences of assault on a constable in Lincolnshire
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1998–99 268 
			 1999–2000 223 
			 2000–01 178 
			 2001–02 218 
			 2002–03 281

Police

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the reasons are for the proposals (a) to remove the requirement for an inspector to be in charge of searches under code B of the Police and Criminal Evidence codes and (b) to remove the requirement for the arresting officer presence to justify arrest or detention under code C of the codes.

Hazel Blears: The information is as follows:
	(a) In the August 2004 edition of the Codes it is proposed to remove the legislative requirement for an officer of Inspector rank to be in charge of searches under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, Schedule 1 or the Terrorism Act 2000, Schedule 5. This change will provide consistency with other parts of the Codes whereby the officer in charge of the search is the senior officer present (See Code B, 2F). Searches in the categories specified will not always require supervision by an officer of Inspector rank and judgements about the necessary level of supervision need to be made in each individual case.
	(b) It is proposed that the following paragraph be inserted into Code C, paragraph 3.4: "If the arresting officer is not physically present when the detainee is brought to a police station, the arresting officer's account must be made available to the custody officer remotely or by a third party on the arresting officer's behalf".
	This new provision will enable officers to remain on front-line duties without being taken "off the street" to travel to and from the police station. It will also enable greater use of designated detention officers under sections 38 and 39 of the Police Reform Act 2002. The Code does not currently require the arresting officer to be present at the point at which the suspect is brought before the custody officer.

Police

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what the number of day visitors used in the calculation of the Police Grant (England and Wales) 2004–05 for Avon and Somerset constabulary was;
	(2)  how many day visitors to Bristol Airport are counted in the number used for the purposes of calculating the Police Grant (England and Wales) 2004–05 for Avon and Somerset constabulary.

Hazel Blears: The annual number of day visitors used in calculation of Police Grant 2004–05 for Avon and Somerset was 38,515,000. This number includes visitors to Bristol airport, but figures are not routinely held at levels of geographical detail below that of the police authority.

Police

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how police numbers in Crosby have changed in each year since 1997.

Hazel Blears: I refer my hon. Friend to my reply of 10 March 2004, Official Report, column 1588W . This remains the latest data available. I do not expect information on Basic Command Unit strength for 31 March 2004 to be available for publication until the autumn.

Prisons

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what audit of privately designed, constructed, managed and financed prisons run under private finance initiatives has been carried out in the last two years.

Paul Goggins: The National Audit Office carried out a review of privately designed, constructed, managed and financed prisons and published their findings in "The Operational Performance of PFI Prisons" (Ref.: HC 700 2002–2003, ISBN 0102921725).
	The Prison Service Standards Audit Unit audit every privately operated prison against agreed prison and security standards on a two year rolling programme.
	Private prisons are overseen by Home Office Controllers who undertake regular internal audit programmes.
	Each of the private prison operators have there own quality assurance team that completes audits and reviews of the prison regime and its security procedures.

Prisons

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the future of (a) Garth and (b) Wymott Prisons in Chorley; and whether these prisons will remain in-house.

Paul Goggins: There are no current plans to change the role or status of either of these establishments.

Probation Programmes

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research he has evaluated on the completion rates on probation-accredited programmes where case management and programme work is integrated.

Paul Goggins: holding answer 21 June 2004
	The Home Office's Research, Development and Statistics Directorate (RDS) has evaluated one study that looked at the relationship between case management and accredited programme completion in the Probation Service. The research was conducted by Oxford University and it was managed and published by the National Probation Directorate in 2004. The published findings "Think First in the community: attendance, attrition and outcomes for participants" are available on the National Probation Service website (www.probation.homeoffice.gov.uk)
	The research found that completion of the Think First programme was better when case management involved intense supervision before the start of the programme, frequent contact after completion, support with personal problems and help in using what had been learnt.

Probation Programmes

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether approval for enhanced community punishment accredited programmes was given on the basis that case management and programme work were integrated.

Paul Goggins: holding answer 21 June 2004
	Enhanced Community Punishment (ECP) was provisionally accredited by the Correctional Services Accreditation Panel and rolled out throughout England and Wales in October 2003. All Community Punishment Orders are now delivered in the form of Enhanced Community Punishment. The order requires an offender to do unpaid work while maximising the scope for learning in order to change the offender's behaviour.
	Integrated case management is a key feature of ECP. It requires there to be structured communication between the people involved in delivering the different components of an order. This structured liaison and integration has been approved by the Accreditation Panel.

Road Fund Licence

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether constabularies in England and Wales have the authority to instigate prosecution against foreign nationals who are driving vehicles registered in another EU country that do not have a current road fund licence.

Caroline Flint: Foreign registered vehicles which are brought into the UK temporarily by overseas residents are usually exempt from UK licensing and registration.
	As regards vehicles registered within the European Union, this exemption stems from Directive 83/182. This provides that a visitor may use a vehicle which is registered and fully tax paid in its home member state for up to six months in 12, without being subject to the domestic registration and taxation requirements of the host state.
	To qualify for the exemption, visitors must have their normal residence outside the host state. It falls to vehicle keepers to satisfy the police or other enforcement authority that they are entitled to exemption from UK registration and licensing. Should they fail to do so, the normal prosecution process will follow.

Secure Training Centres

Rudi Vis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times restraint has been used on children in each of the secure training centres in each of the last five years.

Paul Goggins: The table shows how many times restraint has been used in each secure training centre. The figures given cover the period since the centre opened, with the exception of Medway (which opened in September 1998), where data is available from January 2000. Hassockfield opened in September 1999 and Rainsbrook in July 1999.
	
		
			  1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 Medway n/a 703 845 814 1611 702 
			 Hassockfield 220 694 820 825 922 341 
			 Rainsbrook 286 582 465 822 756 185 
		
	
	Only certified custody officers who have completed a course of instruction delivered by approved trainers may take part in restraints in Secure Training Centres. They are required to attend regular refresher courses to maintain their certification.

Somalia

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the rule 39 order made by the European Court of Human Rights to suspend removals from the Netherlands to Somalia pending determination of a challenge to such removals in application 15243/04; and if he will review his decision to commence removals of failed asylum seekers to Somalia.

Des Browne: The interim order made by the European Court of Human Rights to the Dutch Government under rule 39 applied only to the applicant in that specific case. The interim order means that the applicant cannot be removed to Somalia before the European Court of Human Rights has given a decision on the applicant's case.
	As with applications from all nationalities, each asylum (and human rights) claim made by someone from Somalia is considered by the Home Office on its individual merits, in accordance with our obligations under the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Individual asylum seekers found by both the Home Office and the Independent Appellate Authority, not to be at risk of persecution and not in need of humanitarian protection are considered for removal on a case-by-case basis. The Home Office will not return vulnerable groups and will only enforce the return of those Somalis it is satisfied are not in need of protection.

Somalia

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what reports he has received regarding the fate of Maxamed Yahye Ahmed following his removal to Mogadishu by the Danish authorities.

Des Browne: The Danish Immigration Service has informed us that Maxamed Yalye Ahmed was returned voluntarily to Yemen by the Danish authorities. It is not known whether he subsequently chose to travel to Somalia.

Special Branch

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Special Branch officers were employed in each of the last five years, broken down by police force area.

Hazel Blears: Published information on police strength by Police Force area is available for rank, gender and ethnicity but not function.
	Figures on police strength are published in Home Office statistical bulletins, copies of which can be found in the Library or on the internet site www.homeoffice.gov.uk.
	The latest published data on settlement in the United Kingdom are published in the Command Paper "Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2002" (Cm6053), available from the Library and from the Home Office website http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/hobpubs1.html The 2003 edition is due to be published later this year.

UK Passport Service Pilot Project

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reasons the UK Passport Service pilot project was postponed; whether an independent assessment of the project's results will be carried out; and what criteria will be used when assessing the project's results.

Des Browne: The start of the biometric enrolment trial was delayed by two months; it went live in April 2004. The delay was caused by the need to correct initial problems and then retest the equipment. The trial is now fully rolled out and functioning at its four fixed sites and is expected to run for around six months when United Kingdom Passport Service (UKPS) will have enrolled 10,000 people.
	A mobile enrolment unit will also be deployed from the end of June.
	UKPS has retained the services of an expert in the field of biometrics from the National Physical Laboratory as its independent assessor of the progress and outcomes of the trial.
	The trial is testing the practical aspects of recording of biometrics and public reactions to the enrolment process. The results will be used to inform future designs of UKPS systems and processes

UK Settlement

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been admitted to the UK as (a) husbands and (b) wives in each year since 1979, broken down by country of origin.

Des Browne: holding answer 8 June 2004
	The latest available data relating to the number of passengers admitted to the UK as a husband or wife are shown in the following tables. The information available is broken down by the applicant's nationality, not the country of origin.
	To provide data for the entire period requested would incur disproportionate cost.
	A copy of the table has been placed in the House Library.
	Historical data on immigration control can be found in the Command Papers "Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom", copies of which are available from the Library of the House.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Immigration Appeals

Mark Oaten: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many appeals were determined by (a) the Immigration Appellate Authority and (b) the Immigration Appeals Tribunal in each year since 1997; and at what cost.

David Lammy: Information requested relating to the total number of appeal disposals, and the joint operational running costs, for the Immigration Adjudicators, and the Immigration Appeal Tribunal (IAT), is provided in the following table:
	
		
			 Financial year IAA Adjudicator appeal disposals IAT appeal disposal Operational running cost (£ million) 
		
		
			 1997–98 35,486 2,435 12.6 
			 1998–99 39,743 1,900 14.0 
			 1999–2000 24,440 3,176 16.1 
			 2000–01 34,226 3,118 35.4 
			 2001–02 61,816 4,396 51.2 
			 2002–03 92,941 7,189 92.9 
			 2003–04 110,223 11,171 90.2

WORK AND PENSIONS

Benefit Sanctions

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what evaluation his Department has made of the effect of benefit sanctions.

Chris Pond: I refer the hon. Member to the written statement I gave on 5 February 2004, Official Report, column 44WS.

Community Service Orders

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have lost benefit as a result of breaching their community service orders; and what the average loss of benefit has been, broken down by claimants of (a) income support, (b) jobseeker's allowance and (c) training allowances.

Chris Pond: In the period 15 October 2001 to 15 May 2004, 1,789 individuals have been sanctioned as a result of the court finding them in breach of their community order.
	1,007 offenders have received a 100 per cent. sanction on jobseeker's allowance with an estimated average weekly loss of benefit at 20 February 2004 of £31.17 per person.
	743 people have received a sanction on income support with a 40 per cent. reduction and 39 have received a sanction on income support with a 20 per cent. reduction. The average weekly loss of benefit for the IS claimants at 20 February 2004 was £17.31 per person.
	None of these claimants were in receipt of training allowance.
	Notes:
	1. The figures presented regarding loss of benefit in monetary terms have been estimated using information from the Departmental Central Index (DCI). It is not possible to determine the actual reduction in all cases.
	2. The average loss of benefit should therefore be used as a guide to loss of benefit for individual offenders only.
	Source:
	Information Centre—IAD, DWP

Lone Parents (Benefits)

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many lone parents are in receipt of income support; and how many of these lone parents are also in receipt of a disability benefit in respect of (a) themselves and (b) their children.

Chris Pond: At November 2003, there were 934,400 single parents in receipt of income support; of these, 62,200 also received disability living allowance (DLA) to help with the extra costs associated with their disability, and 60,900 received DLA in respect of a child's disability.
	Notes:
	1. Figures are based on a 5 per cent. sample and are therefore subject to sampling variation.
	2. Figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred and quoted in thousands.
	3. A single parent is defined as a single person aged under 60 with dependants aged 0–18.
	4. DLA includes both DLA care and mobility.
	Source:
	IAD Information Centre, 5 per cent. sample Client Group Analysis.

Sure Start Maternity Grant

Lorna Fitzsimons: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many mothers in the parliamentary constituency of Rochdale have taken up the Sure Start maternity grant; and what percentage of those were of Asian origin.

Chris Pond: The information is not available in the format requested, the available information in the tables.
	
		Sure Start maternity grants for West Pennine social fund district
		
			  Applications Awards 
		
		
			 2000–01 1,807 1,591 
			 2001–02 2,363 1,794 
			 2002 (to December) 2,213 1,689 
		
	
	
		Sure Start maternity grants for area covered by Oldham and Rochdale jobcentre plus district
		
			  Applications Awards 
		
		
			 2003 (January) Not available 325 
			 2003 (February and March) 682 435 
			 2003–04 4,251 3,059 
			 2004 (April and May) 653 494 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Data is not available by parliamentary constituency.
	2. Rochdale parliamentary constituency used to be part of West Pennine Social Fund District and is now part of Oldham and Rochdale Jobcentre Plus District. The latter was formed in January 2003 from part of Oldham Social Fund District and part of West Pennine Social Fund District. The two areas for which data is given above are different and the data is not comparable.
	3. Sure Start Maternity Grants were introduced on 27 March 2000. The very small number of cases for 1999–2000 have been excluded for data protection reasons.
	4. Data is given for all applications and awards, irrespective of whether the application was made by the mother or her partner.
	5. Data is not collected on the ethnic origin of Sure Start Maternity Grant applicants.
	Source:
	DWP Social Fund Policy, Budget and Management Information System.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

British Indian Ocean Territories

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what income of the British Indian Ocean Territories is disbursed (a) as administrative costs, (b) to support the security of US facilities on Diego Garcia and (c) to support the welfare of the Chagos Islanders.

Bill Rammell: The revenues of the Government of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) are disbursed on the protection and management of the BIOT Fisheries (Conservation and Management) Zone, and the BIOT civil administration. There are no disbursements to support the security of the US Defence Facility or to support the welfare of members of the Chagossian communities in Mauritius, Seychelles and elsewhere.

British Indian Ocean Territories

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the recognised population of the British Indian Ocean Territories is; and what information he holds on where they are domiciled.

Bill Rammell: There is currently no settled population in the British Indian Ocean Territory. There are no official figures for the number of persons outside the Territory who could be regarded as Chagossians either by virtue of birth there or immediate descent from a person born there. The majority of them reside in Mauritius but there are smaller numbers in Seychelles and elsewhere, e.g. in the United Kingdom.

Burma

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Burmese Government, citing Common Article 3 of the Geneva conventions, on its treatment of the civilian populations of the Karen, Karenni and Shan peoples.

Mike O'Brien: We regularly raise our concerns on human rights in Burma with the Burmese regime including the suffering of ethnic groups such as Karen, Karenni and Shan peoples, most recently when I met the Burmese Ambassador on 1 June.
	We look to the Burmese authorities to respect and abide by the principles of international law, including international humanitarian law, and notably all the provisions of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, to which Burma is a State Party.
	The UK co-sponsored a resolution which was unanimously adopted at the UN Commission on Human Rights on 21 April that condemned human rights violations suffered by ethnic groups in Burma. The Resolution called on the regime to consider as a matter of high priority becoming party to the Additional Protocols of 8 June 1977 to the Geneva Conventions, of 12 August 1949.

Burma

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will recognise as genocide the actions of the Burmese Government against the Karen, Karenni and Shan peoples.

Mike O'Brien: The Government are one of the strongest critics of the Burmese regime's violations of human rights. There is a consistent pattern of serious violations over many years, particularly against the ethnic groups. However, the term "genocide" has a specific meaning under international law. The United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Burma, Professor Sergio Pinheiro, who has visited Burma several times does not use the term to describe the situation there nor do major international NGOs, who monitor the situation in the country.

Chagos Islands

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs under what circumstances civilians are allowed to visit the Chagos Islands; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: Under the 1976 United Kingdom/United States Exchange of Notes concerning the US Defence Facility on Diego Garcia, access to Diego Garcia is in general restricted to members of the Forces of the United Kingdom and of the United States, the Commissioner and public officers in the service of the British Indian Ocean Territory, representatives of the Government of the United Kingdom and of the United States and, subject to normal immigration requirements, contractor personnel. The United Kingdom Government reserves the right, after consultation with the appropriate United States administrative authorities, to grant access to members of scientific parties wishing to carry out research on Diego Garcia and its environs, provided that such research does not unreasonably interfere with the activities of the facility. Access is not to be granted to any other person without prior consultation between the appropriate administrative authorities of the two Governments.
	Under the immigration law of the British Indian Ocean Territory, all persons other than members of the United Kingdom or United States armed forces and Government officials require a permit to visit any part of the Territory, including both Diego Garcia and the outer islands. Such permits are not generally granted except in connection with official business or on compassionate grounds. However, private yachts are allowed to call in at the outer islands without a permit provided that the crews do not stay ashore overnight.

Civil Service Relocation

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many civil servants and what percentage of the total Civil Service workforce in his Department will be relocated over the next five years (a) outside the M25, (b) to the West Midlands and (c) to Staffordshire.

Bill Rammell: Detailed Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) relocation plans were set out in the Lyons report, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House. 456 staff will relocate to the FCO Milton Keynes site over the next five years, which represents 12 per cent. of FCO central London staffing levels.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will reply to the letter to him dated 6 May from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mohammed Shafi.

Chris Mullin: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary replied on 15 June.

Death Certificates

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what charges his Department makes for issuing death certificates for individuals who die abroad; what plans he has to review these charges; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: There is no requirement under UK law for the death of a British national overseas to be recorded at one of our Posts. In many cases, the local authorities for the jurisdiction in which the death took place issue death certificates.
	However, if we are asked to do so the Statutory fee for registering a death at one of our Posts is £55 for the registration only. A copy of the entry costs an additional £35 per copy, if obtained through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and £8 per copy if obtained through the General Registry Office in Southport, Merseyside, after March of the succeeding year.
	It is established Government policy that the cost of consular services, which are laid before Parliament, should be set to cover the full costs involved in delivering the services and not subsidised by the taxpayer.
	There are no plans to review the costs at present.

Honours List

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list those individuals who are not UK citizens who since 1 May 1997 have been awarded honours, giving in each case (a) the date of the announcement, (b) the honour in question and (c) the rationale behind the honour.

Jack Straw: During this period, approximately 700 honorary awards have been bestowed on foreign nationals who reside in the United Kingdom and overseas. Since honorary awards are not published in the New Year and Birthday lists, but are processed throughout the year, details are not readily available. Honorary awards are not necessarily announced since not all recipients desire publicity. Honours are awarded for services to British interests.
	To provide the detailed information requested would incur disproportionate costs.

Indian Foreign Minister

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on his meeting with the Indian Foreign Minister.

Mike O'Brien: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary met the Indian Foreign Minister Mr. Natwar Singh on 16 June. This was the first Cabinet-level meeting between our two governments since the Indian General Election in April/May. The Foreign Secretary and Mr. Singh recognised the strength of our bilateral relations and emphasised their desire to enhance our engagement yet further. They also discussed a range of regional and global issues including: India/Pakistan relations, Iraq, Afghanistan, Nepal and South Asian regional co-operation.

OSCE Conference

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what conclusions were reached at the OSCE conference on racism and anti-semitism on 16–17 June in Paris; what practical steps he expects to be taken following the conference, with particular reference to the internet; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: The OSCE Meeting on the Relationship between Racist, Xenophobic and anti-Semitic Propaganda on the Internet and Hate Crimes looked at a variety of methods to address this issue including monitoring, self-regulation, legislation, and raising awareness in the community and among young people. The views of participating states varied widely, particularly over the balance to be struck between freedom of expression and combating hate speech. We expect the final report of the conference to issue within a month. The report will be discussed at the OSCE's Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in October, along with the reports of the Anti-Semitism Conference held in Berlin in April and the Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination Conference held in Brussels in September. OSCE participating states are then likely to reach a decision on political commitments on tolerance at the Ministerial meeting due to be held in Sofia in December.

Rwanda/Congo

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions (a) he, (b) members of his Department and (c) representatives of the Government have had with (i) members and representatives of the Government of Rwanda and (ii) representatives of non-governmental organisations regarding the closing of the border between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Mullin: My right hon. Friends the Foreign Secretary and the Secretary of State for International Development (Hilary Benn) have both spoken to President Kagame of Rwanda to express our concern over present tensions between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and to press for a peaceful solution to the crisis. I will be visiting both Rwanda and the DRC during the week commencing 21 June to reiterate these concerns. I hope to meet President Kabila and Kagame during this visit.
	Our Ambassadors in Kigali and Kinshasa remain in regular contact with their host Governments, and with NGO representatives, on the situation on and around the Rwanda/DRC border.

Sudan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he will be making to the Sudanese authorities concerning the seizure on 20 May of the guesthouse in Khartoum belonging to the Episcopal Church in Sudan.

Mike O'Brien: Our Embassy in Khartoum is in contact with the Christian Community about this case and have raised the matter with the Government of Sudan. The Episcopal Church in Sudan (ECS) requested a review of the court eviction order by the original judge and this has been accepted. The judge has also issued an injunction, as requested by the ECS, that nothing should be done to the guesthouse property while the court case is under way.

Vietnam

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he will be making to the Government of Vietnam concerning the arrest of Rev. Nguyen Hong Quang in Ho Chi Minh City on 8 June.

Mike O'Brien: We are working with our EU colleagues in Vietnam to establish the circumstances surrounding the reported arrest on 8 June of Pastor Quang and to determine whether he should be added to the EU list of prisoners/detainees of concern whose cases are regularly raised with the Vietnamese authorities. A copy of this list was handed over to the Vietnamese during the EU-Vietnam Human Rights Dialogue meeting on 22 June, attended by the British Ambassador to Vietnam.

TRANSPORT

Motability Scheme

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many cars receive road tax exemption through the Motability scheme; how much this exemption costs; what the financial value is of the exemption; how many of the exempted cars are registered to people aged 65 years and over; what plans he has to extend the exemptions to adapted cars bought by people disabled after their 65 birthday; and if he will estimate the cost of extending the exemptions.

David Jamieson: This exemption cost the Exchequer an estimated £155 million in 2002–2003. It can be worth anything between £15 and £2,585 per annum depending on the type of vehicle concerned.
	There are currently around 375,000 vehicles in the Motability fleet (either contract hire or hire purchase). About 26 per cent. of these are in the 65+ age group.
	There are no plans to change the way the exemption works at present. However, the Chancellor keeps all taxation policy under review and any changes are announced in the context of his Budget statement after considering relevant economic, social and environmental factors.

Air Transport White Paper

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the Sustainable Development Commission's report on the Air Transport White Paper.

Tony McNulty: "The Future of Air Transport" White Paper sets out a balanced and measured approach between travel needs, economic benefits of new capacity, and the environmental effects of flying. More does need to be done to limit the environmental impacts of air travel. We recognise the importance of tackling climate change, and welcome the Commission's support for our approach to aviation participation in emissions trading. We are open to dialogue with the Commission, along with other stakeholders, as we work to deliver the White Paper.

Crossrail

John Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the relative (a) cost-effectiveness, (b) value for money and (c) regeneration effect of the building of Crossrail with and without the Canary Wharf link to Abbey Wood via The Royals; when he expects to make a decision; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: Such issues were all considered by the review chaired by Adrian Montague into the current Crossrail proposals. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport, is currently considering Adrian Montague's detailed advice and will publish his findings in due course.

Emergency Vehicles (Speeding)

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much money has been spent, broken down by local authority, in dealing with speeding tickets issued to (a) fire service vehicles and (b) police vehicles.

Hazel Blears: I have been asked to reply.
	Information is not collected centrally on moneys spent in dealing with speeding tickets issued to fire service or police vehicles, nor on moneys paid out in fines as a result of fire service and police vehicles contravening speed limits.

Haulage Sector (Emissions)

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the emission levels of pollutants from the haulage sector were in each year since 1997, broken down by pollutant.

David Jamieson: The emissions of the main pollutants, i.e. oxides of nitrogen (NOx), particulate matter (PM 1 0 ), carbon monoxide (CO) and non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC), for heavy goods vehicles (HGV's) are given in the following table from 1997 through to 2002, this being the latest date for which data are available. The emissions of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), a global warming gas, are also included.
	
		ktonnes
		
			  Nox PM 1  0 CO NMVOC CO 2 
		
		
			 1997 339.4 12.2 68.4 36.7 26,739 
			 1998 335.3 11.4 66.9 34.0 26,983 
			 1999 323.5 10.5 63.8 31.0 26,830 
			 2000 306.6 9.1 60.5 28.6 26,546 
			 2001 293.4 8.4 57.2 26.4 27,417 
			 2002 284.3 7.8 54.6 24.5 29,410 
		
	
	Source:
	2002 National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory.

IT Equipment

Howard Flight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how often since 1997 (a) his Department and (b) its associated public sector organisations have undergone portable appliance testing of IT equipment; and what the cost was of portable appliance testing in each year since 1997.

Tony McNulty: The Department for Transport was formed in May 2002 and as a result the information provided relates to the period from then.
	In the Department's headquarters building Great Minster House in London portable appliance testing (PAT) is carried out annually and the latest available figures show expenditure of £19,016 and £15,005 excluding VAT for 2002 and 2003 respectively.
	Elsewhere in the Department's Agencies PAT testing of portable equipment is normally carried out on annual basis for non-IT equipment. IT equipment is sometimes included in these tests but in other situations the checking is undertaken by IT engineers as part of servicing arrangements.
	Comprehensive information on costs is not readily available because in some cases these are undifferentiated from other Mechanical and Electrical service contracts costs or are not accounted for separately in the individual finance systems. To separately identify such costs would involve disproportionate costs.

PFI/PPP Schemes

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the private finance initiative/public private partnership schemes his Department has entered into that have been subject to refinancing deals, indicating in each case how much of the windfall gain has been repaid to the Government.

Tony McNulty: Details of the refinancing arrangements on Government sponsored PFI projects were published on 31 March 2004, Official Report, column 1412W. The Department for Transport has also sponsored the following additional PFI and two PPP schemes that have been refinanced: Essex County Council A130 (PFI), London Underground—Tubelines (PPP), and National Air Traffic Control (PPP). Only the London Underground—Tubelines scheme generated a refranchising gain (£70 million), from which £42 million (60 per cent.) was repaid to Government.

Secure Stations Scheme

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many crimes have been committed at stations that meet secure station status in each year since the scheme's inception.

Tony McNulty: The Secure Stations scheme was launched in 1998 to improve security and perceptions of security at railway stations. It is a national accreditation scheme recognising set standards of good practice in rail station, staff and passenger security. The national scheme covers all overground and underground rail stations across England, Wales and Scotland, which are policed by the British Transport Police. The first stations were accredited in 1998 and the number of stations in the scheme continues to increase.
	The British Transport Police have provided the following information on crimes recorded at stations in the Secure Stations scheme for any given year in the period 2000–2004 when a station held accreditation. Data is not readily available for earlier than 2000.
	
		
			  Crimes recorded at Secure Stations Number of Secure Stations 
		
		
			 2000–2001 16,351 84 
			 2001–2002 22,735 128 
			 2002–2003 30,077 167 
			 2003–2004 31,815 174

Travel Costs

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 16 June 2004, Official Report, columns 936–37W, on travel costs, if he will provide analogous data for air travel costs between 1974 and 2003.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 22 June 2004
	The cost of air travel from 1996 to 2003 is shown in index form in the following table. This data is taken from the Consumer Price Index 1 , published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Note that these figures are not adjusted for inflation.
	The data between 1996 and 2000 are not comparable with data from 2001 onwards. Between 1996 and 2000, the index only includes the purchase of flights on the day of travel, and is not representative of all air travel.
	1 Like the Retail Price Index (RPI), the Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures the average change from month to month in the prices of consumer goods and services. However it differs in the particular households it represents, the range of goods and services included, and the way the index is constructed.
	
		Index (1996=100)
		
			  
		
		
			 1996 100.0 
			 1997 103.3 
			 1998 107.3 
			 1999 109.0 
			 2000 111.5 
			 2001 121.5 
			 2002 120.1 
			 2003 114.0 
		
	
	Source:
	Consumer Price Index, Office for National Statistics
	There is no information available prior to 1996 on the overall cost of air travel.

Vehicle Operator Services Agency

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made in relation to the monitoring mechanisms for pay harmonisation and pay equalisation referred to in the business case submitted prior to the merger of the former Vehicle Inspectorate and the Traffic Area Network into the new Vehicle Operator Services Agency (VOSA); and if he will make a statement on the decision not to fund centrally the cost of pay equalisation and pay harmonisation during the creation of VOSA.

David Jamieson: Pay harmonisation is being achieved over a three year period 2003–06. As a Trading Fund, VOSA will be required to meet its costs from its fees and charges.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Arts Council Budget

Matthew Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the budget for the Arts Council for 2004–05 is; how much of this budget has been committed this year, and to what projects this money has been committed.

Estelle Morris: The budget for the Arts Council is set out in the following table.
	
		Arts Council budget allocations-2004–05
		
			  Budget Commitment 
			  £000 £000 
		
		
			 Grant in Aid (GIA):   
			 Regularly Funded Organisations 280,081 279,515 
			 Managed funds 28,000 2,919 
			 Grants to Individuals 7,500 1,431 
			 Creative Partnerships 25,000 25,000 
			 GIA administration 23,677 23,677 
			 Total 364,258 332,542 
			
			 Lottery:   
			 Grants for National Touring 10,000 2,679 
			 Grants to Organisations 41,000 7,982 
			 Stabilisation/Recovery of large scale organisations 16,000 16,000 
			 Capital Projects 89,500 89,500 
			 National Foundation for Youth Music 10,000 10,000 
			 Awards for All 7,000 1,790 
			 Lottery administration 18,968 18,968 
			 Total 192,468 146,919 
		
	
	Arts Council England's total Grant in Aid allocation for 2004–05 is £365,455,000.
	Arts Council England's Lottery allocation for 2004–05 is £198,200,000. The Lottery budget is based on a cash flow forecasting exercise.
	It is not possible to list all of the projects that have received funding for the period 2004–05. For example the Grant in Aid budget supports over 1200 regularly funded organisations.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Teenage Pregnancies

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the most recent rate of teenage pregnancies per thousand population was in (a) Longbridge ward, Birmingham, (b) Birmingham and (c) England; and what action he is taking to monitor efforts to reduce this rate.

Stephen Twigg: The latest under 18 conception data available at a ward level show there were 35 conceptions to females aged under 18 in Longbridge ward in 2000. At ward level, teenage pregnancy rates per thousand population can only be estimated due to the lack of accurate population denominators. An estimated aggregated rate for 1998–2000 for Longbridge ward shows an under 18 conception rate around 72 per 1,000 females aged 15–17.
	(a) The latest under 18 conception rate for Birmingham shows a provisional rate of 49.9 per 1,000 females aged 15–17 in 2002. This compares with a 1998 rate of 58.6 per 1,000 females aged 15–17.
	(b) The latest under 18 conception rate for England shows a provisional rate of 42.6 per 1,000 females aged 15–17 in 2002. This compares with a 1998 rate of 47.0 per 1,000 females aged 15–17.
	Monitoring of the implementation of the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy is undertaken at both a national and local level. At a national level, an Independent Advisory Group (IAG) provides advice to Government and monitors the overall success of the strategy. Its membership of 25 meets quarterly and members make visits to local areas to learn about implementation of the local teenage pregnancy strategies.
	At a local level, implementation of the teenage pregnancy strategy in each top-tier local authority in England is reviewed every six months. Local areas submit annual reports and forward action plans at the end of March. These are assessed by regional assessment panels and written feedback given by the Regional Teenage Pregnancy Co-ordinator and the Teenage Pregnancy Unit. The Regional Teenage Pregnancy Co-ordinators also conduct six monthly review meetings to discuss progress.

Departmental Secondments

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many staff in his Department and its agencies were seconded from the (a) private and (b) academic sector in each of the last three years.

Charles Clarke: The number of secondments from the private and academic sector for each year from April 2002 is:
	
		
			 April to March Private Sector Academic Sector 
		
		
			 2002–03 6 34 
			 2003–04 7 29 
		
	
	Information for April 2001 to March 2002 is not available in the form requested.

Free School Meals (Surrey)

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills why the number of secondary school pupils in Surrey taking free school meals in January 2002 was higher than the number eligible for free school meals; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Twigg: We have investigated the difference and unfortunately found that the number of pupils taking free school meals in Surrey secondary schools in January 2002 as previously published by the Department was not accurate.
	The available statistics are based upon returns from the Annual Schools Census. These returns provide the number of pupils who had a free school meal at lunchtime on the Census day itself. One secondary school in Surrey recorded an incorrect total in the 2002 Annual Schools Census. This was the first year of a change from paper forms to electronic returns and this error was not noticed at the time. The published statistics reflect the data as returned by the school; hence the Surrey total was erroneously higher than the number of pupils who were eligible for a free meal. I have instructed officials to highlight this error on the Department's statistical website where the 2002 figures are published and to check other related publications.
	Numbers of pupils eligible to receive free school meals are also derived from the Annual Schools Census. The eligibility information is collected at pupil level and is subject to more detailed validation checks. The pupil level returns are aggregated to form school and LEA statistics that are widely used within the Department and beyond. There are no known concerns about the accuracy of the eligibility statistics.

Post-16 Education

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether there are systematic checks on eligibility for post-16 education.

Ivan Lewis: Yes. Eligibility checks on post-16, excluding higher education, students are determined by the eligibility requirements, the level of risk of abuse and the need to minimise bureaucratic burdens on learners, learning providers and employers. This is an operational matter and the responsibility of the Learning and Skills Council. Mark Haysom, the Council's Chief Executive, will write to the hon. Member with this information and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.

Student Loan Company

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will publish the results of the pilot project for the Student Loan Company protocol computer system conducted in 2003, including feedback from local education authorities.

Alan Johnson: holding answer 21 June 2004
	We have no plans to publish operational reports. However, the hon. Gentleman may wish to know that the 2003 pilot of the Protocol system was successful. All but a very small number of students who applied by the published deadlines in the pilot areas were paid at the start of term; all students in these areas who applied on-time had a payment by 25 September 2003. These results were an important part of the decision to roll-out the new system to all local education authorities (LEAs): a decision which was agreed with all stakeholders including representatives from LEAs.
	As with any pilot there were lessons learned and comments from LEAs about the way the system operated. The Student Loans Company have taken steps to address these issues in the design of the 2004/05 version of the system.

Truancy

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what further steps he proposes to tackle truancy.

Ivan Lewis: Promoting regular school attendance is a key component in the Government's strategy to raise educational standards. Tackling truancy, in particular, also contributes to the Government's objectives to reduce street crime and antisocial behaviour.
	The Department for Education and Skills will continue to promote a full range of measures to raise attendance and reduce truancy including:
	strengthening schools' capacity to manage attendance through audit and training materials and consultancy provided through the Key Stage 3 and Primary Strategies;
	providing intensive support for schools facing the greatest challenges through the Behaviour Improvement Programme;
	co-ordinating further national programmes of truancy sweeps, to generate local publicity and deter parentally condoned absences
	national rollout of the "Fast-track" case management system the aim of which is to ensure that schools and LEAs deal with attendance cases quickly and in the most effective way to get the child back into school;
	the introduction of new parenting contracts to enable schools and LEAs to engage earlier and more effectively with parents of children who are truanting. But where parents are unwilling to accept such voluntary and supportive measures we have introduced penalty notices for truancy as a speedy alternative to prosecution.
	These measures indicate the Department's focus on truancy as a high priority for improvement.

Wirral Metropolitan College

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he will inform Wirral Metropolitan College of its budget allocation for 2004–05.

Alan Johnson: holding answer 22 June 2004
	The LSC expects to confirm indicative allocations for all colleges immediately and final allocations including additional performance related funding by the 30 June 2004.

CABINET OFFICE

Government Car Service

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to his answer of 12 February 2004, Official Report, column 1569W, on Government cars, if he will list each occasion when Government whips have, since 1 January 2003, made use of a car from the Government car service pool, giving in each case the (a) date of use and (b) name of the whip.

Douglas Alexander: The responsibility for the provision of ministerial cars and drivers has been delegated under the terms of the Framework Document to the Government Car and Despatch Agency. I have asked its Chief Executive Mr. Nick Matheson to write to the hon. Member. Copies of his letter will be placed in the Library.

Government Online Services

Tam Dalyell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the oral answer of 18 May 2004, Official Report, column 822, on e-Government, if he will break down by Department the £1 billion provided to improve take-up of Government online services.

Douglas Alexander: holding answer 22 June 2004
	The £1 billion my hon. Friend referred to is the amount which was allocated during the 2002 Spending Review to invest in broadband connectivity for public services. The main recipients of these are: the Department for Education and Skills, for plans to provide all primary and secondary schools with 2Mb and 8Mb broadband connections respectively by 2006; the national health service, to provide all general practitioners practices with 256k connectively, and all hospitals, primary care trusts and other health authorities with a minimum of 2Mb; the Criminal Justice System to provide information communication technology infrastructure across the six major criminal justice organisations-police, crown prosecution service, magistrates courts, crown court, probation and prisons.
	Responsibility for effective co-ordination of this expenditure rests with the Department for Trade and Industry.

Government Websites

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what measures he proposes to take to rectify problems with (a) missing files, (b) management of website structures, (c) the use of illegal characters in web addresses, (d) problems with compliance with the Government's search index system and (e) hosting websites on servers that are not able to manage demand in respect of Government websites.

Douglas Alexander: The Cabinet Office has published the "Guidelines for UK Government Websites", which provides extensive advice to Government web managers. In practice the overall management, both technical and editorial, of Government websites is the responsibility of individual Departments and Agencies.

Government Websites

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will make a statement on the compliance of Government websites with Web Accessibility Initiative guidelines.

Douglas Alexander: I refer the hon. Member to the response given to him on 14 June 2004, Official Report, column 721W, on Government Websites.

HEALTH

Health Services (Rochdale)

Lorna Fitzsimons: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in the parliamentary constituency of Rochdale are receiving treatment for drug dependency; and what percentage are (a) women, (b) under 20 and (c) from an ethnic minority.

Melanie Johnson: The information is not available in the format requested.
	In 2000–01, there were 712 people receiving drug treatment in the area covered by the drug action team in Rochdale. Data broken down by drug action team for 2001–02 and 2002–03 has not been finalised.

Health Services (Rochdale)

Lorna Fitzsimons: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on waiting times for heart surgery on the NHS in Rochdale.

Melanie Johnson: The latest figures available show that no one waited more than nine months for a heart operation in the Rochdale Primary Care Trust (PCT) area. The total number of people waiting for a heart operation in the Rochdale PCT area was 264.

Health Services (Rochdale)

Lorna Fitzsimons: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many residents in Rochdale awaiting heart surgery have had the option of choosing an alternative hospital for quicker treatment in the last 12 months.

Melanie Johnson: The information requested is not held centrally.
	Since July 2002, patients who have been waiting for six months for heart operations have been offered the choice of faster treatment at another hospital, in either the national health service or the independent sector.

A and E Waiting Times

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time at accident and emergency departments at the (a) Royal Free, (b) North Middlesex, (c) Whittington, (d) Homerton and (e) University College hospitals was at (i) the latest available date and (ii) for each of the past three years.

John Hutton: We do not collect figures on average waiting times in accident and emergency departments. However, we do publish data on the percentage of patients spending four hours or less in accident and emergency departments from arrival to discharge, admission or transfer. These figures can be found on the department's website at http://www.performance.doh.gov.uk/hospitalactivity/data requests/total time ae.htm

Acute Mental Illness Beds (Sefton)

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many acute mental illness beds were available for (a) the elderly, (b) children and (c) other age groups in Sefton in each of the last three years; and how many were secure units.

Melanie Johnson: Information most closely associated with place of residency is not collected on a constituency level but at national health service trust level. The information is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Elderly Children 
			 NHS organisation 2001–01 2001–02 2002–03 2001–01 2001–02 2002–03 
		
		
			 Southport and Ormskirk NHS Trust — — — — — — 
			 Sefton PCT — — — — — — 
			 Five Boroughs Partnership NHS Trust — — 204 — — — 
			 Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Trust — — 142 — — 10 
			 Mersey Care NHS Trust — 151 149 — — — 
			 Royal Liverpool Childrens NHS Trust — — — 8 9 9 
		
	
	
		
			  Other ages Secure (other) 
			 NHS organisation 2001–01 2001–02 2002–03 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 
		
		
			 Southport and Ormskirk NHS Trust — — — — — — 
			 Sefton PCT — — — — — — 
			 Five Boroughs Partnership NHS Trust — — 302 — — 20 
			 Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Trust — — 272 — — 15 
			 Mersey Care NHS Trust — 314 316 — 17 44 
			 Royal Liverpool Childrens NHS Trust — — — — — —

Alcohol

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how he plans to curb teenage alcohol consumption.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 23 June 2004
	Existing licensing legislation expressly prohibits the sale of alcohol to the under 18s and its consumption by them on licensed premises in certain circumstances. The implementation of the Licensing Act 2003 will further tighten these laws by extending their scope, increasing penalties, removing existing anomalies and making licences more instantly at risk of forfeit where offences take place.
	My right hon. Friend, The Home Secretary announced on 11 June 2004 that the Home Office police standards unit, working in partnership with the Association of Chief Police Officers, will be inviting forces and other partners from across the country to take part in a co-ordinated programme of enforcement and initiatives to tackle alcohol fuelled violence. The campaign includes targeting the irresponsible few who encourageunderage and binge drinking and targeting drunken behaviour. This takes forward one of the recommendations in the Government's alcohol harm reduction strategy for England.
	The Department produces a number of leaflets for young people and their parents setting out the risks of alcohol misuse. The Department also plans to develop a range of new health promotion messages for binge drinkers, many of whom will be teenagers. The Government's alcohol harm reduction strategy for England set out the framework of a voluntary social responsibility scheme for alcohol producers and retailers. The Department and the Home Office will work with the drinks industry to develop this scheme.

Alcohol

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in the Chorley and South Ribble Primary Care Trust have been treated for alcohol-related illness in each of the last five years.

Melanie Johnson: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		Finished admissions into national health service hospitals for patients resident in Chorley and South Ribble Primary Care Trust 1998–99 to 2002–03 with a primary diagnosis of "alcohol-related illness"
		
			  Finished admissions 
		
		
			 1998–99 230 
			 1999–2000 230 
			 2000–01 204 
			 2001–02 243 
			 2002–03 246 
		
	
	Notes:
	Finished Admission Episodes
	A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
	Ungrossed Data
	Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data are ungrossed).
	Source:
	Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health.

Antidepressants

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many working days were spent between June 2003 and May 2004 on the review of selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors and related antidepressants being conducted by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency and Committee on Safety of Medicines.

Rosie Winterton: The Committee on Safety of Medicines' (CSM) expert working group on the safety of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors was established in May 2003 and met 11 times between June 2003 and May 2004. The CSM has considered reports from the expert working group on seven occasions. A range of staff from a number of different disciplines within the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has been involved in the review at various stages. It is not possible to provide a meaningful estimate of the number of working days spent on the review because the proportion of staff time dedicated to the review has varied according to the type of input required over the time period in question.

Arm's Length Bodies

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate how many employees of his Department are to be transferred to a departmental arm's length body as part of the Change programme.

Rosie Winterton: We estimate that 415 posts will be transferred to departmental arms length bodies as part of the Department's change programme. Those bodies are themselves being reviewed, as my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, said in his written statement on 20 May.

Attitude Surveys

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what surveys of public perceptions of (a) his Department, (b) the NHS and (c) other areas of responsibility of the Department have taken place over the last 12 months; what the (i) title and (ii) nature of these surveys was; what the findings of each survey were; where these findings have been published; what the cost of all surveys was; and if he will make a statement and place copies of the surveys in the Library.

Rosie Winterton: For the Department, we have not commissioned any surveys into public perceptions over the past 12 months.
	The Department commissioned an opinion research agency, MORI, to carry out a survey into public perceptions of the national health service in winter 2003. The full report, called "Public perceptions of the NHS tracking survey", has been published on the MORI website and can be accessed through the Department's website at: http://www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/PublishedSurvey/ListOfSurveySince1990/fs/en
	Copies have been placed in the Library.
	Based on a relatively small national sample of 1,000 interviews, the results provide a useful check on public sentiment and patient experience to complement the much larger patient surveys undertaken by the former Commission for Health Improvement and its successor, the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection. Results have been shared with NHS senior managers and stakeholders to inform policy objectives and business planning. These surveys show high levels of patient satisfaction with the NHS.
	Since 2000, we have carried out six such surveys into public perceptions of the national health service at a total cost of £236,950 (plus VAT). This figure also includes a small amount of qualitative work carried out with the 2000 survey.
	For other areas of responsibility, information on surveys into public perceptions of the Department's arm's length bodies could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Breakfast

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans his Department has for promoting the benefits of eating breakfast to children.

Melanie Johnson: holding answer 23 June 2004
	The Department is undertaking a healthier breakfast club pilot project as part of the joint Department of Health/Department for Education and Skills "Food in Schools" (FiS) programme. The results of this, and the other seven Department of Health-led FiS pilot projects, will be disseminated to schools early next year.

Deaf-Blind People

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to ensure health staff have the relevant training to provide an effective service to deaf-blind people.

John Hutton: NHSU, the organisation set up by the Department to establish a university for the national health service, is leading the development and delivery of disability equality and awareness training tools and resources as part of a wider disability learning and development strategy. An initial prototype learning programme, aimed at providing staff with a broad overview of disability awareness, will be ready for consultation in the autumn.

Delayed Discharge Charging

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many chargeable days NHS trusts in England have reported since liability for delayed discharge charging came into effect; and what the total charging liability since this date is.

Stephen Ladyman: holding answer 21 June 2004
	Between 5 January 2004, when charging for delayed discharges was introduced and 28 March 2004, national health service trusts reported 58,724 days of delay to discharge because of patients awaiting social services.
	Information on agreed legal liabilities for charging will be collected centrally at the end of the first six months of the scheme. The majority of councils have arranged local investment agreements with the NHS and will only pay charges for delays falling outside this agreement.

Departmental Vacancies

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will publish his Department's vacancies survey for March.

John Hutton: The national health service staff vacancy survey 2004 is due for publication in July 2004.

Domestic Violence

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make domestic violence training mandatory for all health professionals.

John Hutton: Responsibility for professional education rests with the respective colleges and relevant professional bodies. The Department will support health professionals in establishing domestic violence policy, practice and training programmes in a number of ways. "Domestic Violence: A Resource Manual for Health Care Professionals", published in 2000, is being revised to include new material on training. In addition, the REFUGE therapists manual and training materials coming out of the University of the West of England pilot funded by the Department will be widely disseminated. Significant work has also been done by the national domestic violence health practitioners forum that will feed into the violence and abuse programme expert group on domestic violence for dissemination from April 2005. A national conference is planned for September 2004 which will provide the focus for all this work to come together as a resource for health professionals to enable them to access appropriate training.

Drug Applications

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the average (a) amount and (b) proportion of working days spent on scrutiny of new drug applications that is accounted for by examination of raw data from Phase 3 clinical trials.

Rosie Winterton: Companies are required to submit, for review and assessment, summaries of all the clinical data and these are much more useful than the examination of the actual raw data for helping to determine the quality, safety and efficacy of products. The average amount of time spent by all assessors assessing a new drug is approximately 50 working days, only a small proportion of which is spent on review of raw data.

Drug Licensing

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the fees charged for the licensing of a new drug is typically earmarked for post-marketing surveillance; and what his estimate is of the average amount payable for each new drug made available for that purpose.

Rosie Winterton: Initial application fees for new drugs cover the work associated with the assessment and evaluation of an application prior to granting a marketing authorisation. Fees for post-marketing surveillance of authorised drugs are charged through an annual service fee for each live marketing authorisation. This service fee covers a number of activities, including enforcement, renewals and post-marketing surveillance activities and it accounts for around 36 per cent., of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency's annual budget.
	The service fee is tiered according to the type of application, to reflect the increased post-marketing activity in newer drugs, compared to well established generic drugs. A newly authorised medicine attracts an annual service fee of £14,768, compared to £1,521 for an established prescription only medicine, or £275 for a general sale list product. Because the service fee covers a number of activities, it is not possible to estimate the amount available purely for post-marketing surveillance for each new product.

Drug Licensing

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what agreements exist between the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency and pharmaceutical companies that define (a) the basis on which drug licence fees are set and charged and (b) for what purpose fees may legitimately be used; and if he will publish them.

Rosie Winterton: No agreements exist between the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the pharmaceutical companies in relation to fees.
	The Medicines Acts 1968 and 1971 require the MHRA to consult the pharmaceutical industry and other interested parties on any proposals to amend the Fees Regulations. Parliamentary approval is then required.
	The MHRA is a Government trading fund and as such, is required to cover its full costs, in relation to the regulation of medicines, from user-fees. Fees paid to the MHRA may be used for purposes set out in the Medicines (Fixing of Fees Relating to Medicinal Products for Human Use) Order 1989 (SI 1989 No 684 amended by SI 1995 No 871), which specifies costs and activities which may be taken into account when setting fees for the MHRA. These include functions of the medicines advisory bodies, all functions relating to European and United Kingdom medicines regulations, enforcement of regulations and premises and equipment overheads.
	MHRA fees are published and are available in the Library and on the MHRA's website.

Drug Licensing

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency's fee income is allocated to post-marketing surveillance.

Rosie Winterton: The proportion of income fees allocated to post-marketing surveillance by the medicines sector of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency for 2003–04 was approximately 30 per cent.

Drug Licensing

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the licensing authority has conducted an audit of the reliability of summaries of clinical data provided by pharmaceutical companies applying for new drug licence applications.

Rosie Winterton: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency does scrutinise companies' raw data when considered necessary to ensure the reliability of summaries of clinical data. This may be done in various ways including looking at original patients' trial records, reviewing extensive listings of data and sometimes re-analysing the data.

Drug Rehabilitation (Crosby)

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action he is taking to reduce waiting times for drug rehabilitation in Crosby; what the budget is for the drug action team in Crosby in 2004–05; and how many people have been seen by the drug action team in each of the last three years.

Melanie Johnson: The information requested is not available centrally. The Crosby area is covered by the Sefton drug action team, which is equivalent to the Sefton Metropolitan local authority area.
	The Government have invested substantial extra funding for drug treatment with the total pooled drug treatment budget increasing by over 100 per cent. since it was introduced in 2001–02. In 2004–05, the total pooled drug treatment budget allocation for the Sefton drug action team was £1,490,000, including young people's pooled drug treatment budget allocation, which is issued separately from the adult allocation.
	The latest national waiting time figures show that additional funding has helped to reduce average waiting times for drug treatment from five to 11 weeks in 2001 to two to four weeks by April 2004.
	A census of drug users in treatment was carried out in 2000 to estimate the number of drug users in England in contact with drug treatment agencies in 2000–01. The number of drug users reported as being in treatment in the Sefton drug action team area was 936. Data has been published in a statistical bulletin "Statistics from the Regional Drug Misuse Databases on drug misusers in treatment in England, 2000–01". This is available on the Department's website at http://www.publications. doh.gov.uk/public/sb0133.htm.

Drug Treatment (Lancashire)

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the spending in Chorley on drug treatment was in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) gender and (b) whether the patients were under or over 18;
	(2)  what the budget for drug treatment for Chorley and South Ribble Primary Care Trust is in 2004–05.

Melanie Johnson: The information is not available in the format requested. Allocations of funding for particular treatments are matters for local primary care trusts (PCTs).
	The budget for the drug action team for Lancashire, which covers the Chorley and South Ribble PCT, is £4.26 million in 2004–05.

Foundation Trusts

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the estimated cost to an NHS trust is of developing an application for foundation trust status.

John Hutton: holding answer 21 June 2004
	The Department does not hold information as to the cost involved in developing an application for national health service foundation trust (NHSFT) status as costs will vary from trust to trust. The NHSFT model allows trusts to tailor their proposals to meet the individual circumstances of their hospital and community, within certain parameters set out in legislation. There will be, for example, significant local variation on costs surrounding the creation and maintenance of a membership organisation. The cost of each election will also vary depending on the size of the electorate and the level of documentation provided. It would appear that typical costs for the elections for the first NHSFTs have come out at a little over £1 per member. The costs of the governance arrangements will not necessarily be entirely additional as they will replicate some current activity that NHS trusts are already doing around informing the public, patients and staff about issues affecting the trust.
	The Department has provided £250,000 direct financial support to each wave 1 applicant and, to date, £175,000 to wave 1A applicants to assist them in their preparations for their application and establishment as a NHSFT. It is for each trust to determine how this resource is best spent.

Foundation Trusts

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average cost has been of setting up a foundation trust.

John Hutton: The Department does not hold information as to the cost involved in developing an application for national health service foundation trust (NHSFT) status as costs will vary from trust to trust. The NHSFT model allows trusts to tailor their proposals to meet the individual circumstances of their hospital and community, within certain parameters set out in legislation. There will be, for example, significant local variation on costs surrounding the creation and maintenance of a membership organisation. The cost of each election will also vary depending on the size of the electorate and the level of documentation provided. It would appear that typical costs for the elections for the first NHSFTs have come out at a little over £1 per member. The costs of the governance arrangements will not necessarily be entirely additional as they will replicate some current activity that NHS trusts are already doing around informing the public, patients and staff about issues affecting the trust.
	The Department has provided £250,000 direct financial support to each wave 1 applicant and, to date, £175,000 to wave 1A applicants to assist them in their preparations for their application and establishment as a NHSFT. It is for each trust to determine how this resource is best spent.

Free Eye Tests

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many senior citizens from the Tamworth constituency have taken up free eye tests.

Stephen Ladyman: Data for the number of sight tests by constituency or by the number of senior citizens is not collected centrally.
	The total population for those aged 60 and over in Shropshire and Staffordshire Strategic Health Authority is about 320,450. All people aged 60 and over are eligible for national health service sight tests.
	The total number of NHS sight tests paid for by Shropshire and Staffordshire Strategic Health Authority in the year 2002–03 for the aged 60 and over category was 138,040. Sight tests cannot be equated to the number of patients.

Free Eye Tests

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many pensioners in Warrington North have benefited from free eye tests since their introduction.

Melanie Johnson: Data for the number of sight tests by constituency or by the number of senior citizens is not collected centrally.
	In 2002–03, the total number of national health service sight tests paid for patients aged 60 and over in Cheshire and Merseyside strategic health authority was 201,180. The total number eligible for a free sight test for those aged 60 and over was 507,080. Sight tests cannot be equated to the numbers of patients.

Genito-urinary Care

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) monitoring and (b) research has been conducted by and for his Department on waiting times for genito-urinary medicine services.

Melanie Johnson: The Department is currently examining with the Health Protection Agency ways in which data on waiting times at genito-urinary medicine (GUM) clinics can be obtained. Early this year, the Department undertook pilot surveys in a number of GUM clinics where patients were asked to complete a short anonymous questionnaire seeking information on waiting times. These pilots have proved successful and the first full national survey of clinics took place in May this year and are currently being analysed.

Glue Sniffing

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 14 June 2004, Official Report, column 682W, on glue sniffing, what information is held centrally on the problem of glue sniffing among teenagers; and if he will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: The Department commissions an annual national survey of secondary schoolchildren aged 11 to 15 about drug use, including glue, gas, aerosols or solvents, smoking and drinking among young people in England. The survey for 2003 was carried out by the national centre for social research (NatCen) and the national foundation for educational research (NFER), and was published in March 2004 by the Department. This document is available in the Library.
	In addition, the Department funds the Department of Public Health Sciences at St. George's hospital medical school to collect statistics on deaths associated with the abuse of gas fuels, aerosols, glues and other solvent based products. The 16th annual report "Trends in Death Associated with abuse of volatile substances 1971–2001" highlighting mortality statistics for 2001, was published on 21 July 2003, and can be found on St. George's website at http://www.vsareport.org.

Hip Replacements

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average cost of a primary hip replacement, undertaken on the NHS as an elective in-patient planned admission by an NHS trust, has been in each year since 1998.

John Hutton: holding answer 22 June 2004
	The national average cost of a primary hip replacement undertaken as an elective in-patient planned admission, in a national health service trust in each year since 1998 is shown in the table.
	
		
			 Reference cost collection National average unit cost (£) 
		
		
			 1998 [financial year 1997–98](15) 3,678 
			 1999 [financial year 1998–99] 3,755 
			 2000 [financial year 1999–2000] 3,899 
			 2001 [financial year 2000–01] 4,179 
			 2002 [financial year 2001–02] 4,356 
			 2003 [financial year 2002–03] 4,660 
		
	
	(15) Figure may include elements of critical care service expenditure (subsequently removed from composite admitted patient care Healthcare Resource Group and separately identified).
	Sources:
	The New NHS 1998 Reference Costs, Appendix 1A.
	The New NHS 1999 Reference Costs, Appendix 1A.
	Reference Costs 2000, Appendix 1A.
	Reference Costs 2001, Appendix 1A.
	Reference Costs 2002.
	Payment by Results Core Tools 2004, Appendix SRC1 A.
	Copies of all above publications are available in the Library.

Hospital Reconfigurations

Richard Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many reviews of contested hospital reconfigurations the NHS Independent Reconfiguration Panel has undertaken since its formation; and how many are awaiting referral by the Secretary of State to the panel.

John Hutton: The independent reconfiguration panel (IRP) has, since its establishment, offered advice to the Secretary of State on one contested proposal for reconfiguration of services in East Kent.
	The Government's aim is to ensure that options for national health service change are developed with the help and support of local people and that, wherever possible, disagreements are resolved locally without recourse to Ministers. To assist this, the IRP also offers generic advice and assistance on reconfiguration issues to NHS organisations, local authorities and other interested bodies up to the commencement of formal consultation. So far this year, the IRP has advised on proposals under development in North London, Teeside, Avon, Hampshire and Manchester. There are no reviews of contested reconfigurations currently awaiting referral by the Secretary of State to the IRP.

Insulin

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what studies his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the clinical effectiveness of (i) animal-based insulins and (ii) other insulins; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: All authorised insulins, whether human insulin or animal insulin, have been demonstrated to be efficacious in people with diabetes mellitus. As part of the licensing approval process for any medicinal product, including insulins, the applicant has to provide evidence that the product meets appropriate standards of quality, safety and efficacy. This will include clinical trail data in patients with diabetes. The decision to use one or other of the insulins rests with the physician in consultation with the patient.
	The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority does not commission separate studies.

Iron Deficiency Anaemia

John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Healthy Start Scheme will address the condition of iron deficiency anaemia in infants; and if he will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: In line with the recommendations of the committee on medical aspects of food and nutrition policy (COMA), Healthy Start will provide vouchers to qualifying pregnant women and families that can be exchanged for fresh fruit and vegetables as well as milk and infant formula. Advice and support will be offered to beneficiaries to help them establish healthy diets that contain appropriate vitamins and minerals.
	Additional vouchers will be given to qualifying families with children aged 0–12 months from estimated date of delivery if later than their first birthday. This reflects COMA's concern that low birth weight babies have an increased risk of developing iron deficiency. Healthy Start will also provide vouchers to all women under 18 who become pregnant, regardless of their family income, because of their increased nutritional vulnerability.

Iron Deficiency Anaemia

John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of a possible link between iron deficiency anaemia and socio-economic deprivation;
	(2)  what percentage of children were affected by iron deficiency anaemia in the last period for which figures are available.

Melanie Johnson: The Department undertakes regular surveys to monitor the diet and health of children. The national diet and nutrition survey (NDNS) indicated that the reported prevalence of anaemia varies markedly between populations studied. The NDNS showed that more than 10 per cent, of children aged 1.5 to 2.5 years were anaemic. This fell to 6 per cent. for children aged 2.5 to 3.5 years. Iron intakes are also considerably lower in young women with 50 per cent. of 15 to 18-year-olds with intakes well below the recommended amounts, which can put them at risk of iron deficiency anaemia.
	There are no significant regional differences or differences by household benefit status for men or women in iron deficiency anaemia, although it is more common among certain ethnic groups such as those from an Asian and Afro-Caribbean background. However, lower intakes of both iron and vitamin C, which helps in the adsorption of iron, were associated with manual groups.

Medicines (Prescription in Hospitals)

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will make it a priority to publish data provided by IMS on the prescription of medicines in hospitals for the treatment of (a) cancer, (b) rheumatological conditions and (c) hepatitis C;
	(2)  when he expects to publish the data provided by IMS on the availability and prescription in hospitals of medicines which have received positive National Institute for Clinical Excellence approval.

Rosie Winterton: The Department has recently reached agreement with IMS on the provision of data on the use of medicines in English hospitals. The intention is that the Department will publish information annually, six months after the end of the period. The first publication will be in the summer of 2005. Together with the annual publication of information about prescriptions dispensed in the community, this will give a much fuller picture of the use of medicines in the national health service.

Mental Health Services (Devon)

Angela Browning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the amount spent by each primary care trust (PCT) in Devon on mental health services (a) by percentage of total budget and (b) in cash terms for each year that the PCTs have been operational.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 22 June 2004
	The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		Expenditure on the commissioning of mental illness services by primary care trusts (PCT) in Devon
		
			  2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 
			  Cash expenditure (£000) As a percentage of total budget Cash expenditure (£000) As a percentage of total budget Cash expenditure (£000) As a percentage of total budget 
		
		
			 East Devon PCT n/a n/a 61 0.09 8,293 7.26 
			 Exeter PCT n/a n/a 1,307 1.51 9,438 7.11 
			 Mid Devon PCT n/a n/a 492 0.89 12,932 13.95 
			 North Devon PCT n/a n/a 32 0.03 10,384 7.43 
			 Plymouth PCT n/a n/a 3,414 1.68 25,949 10.27 
			 South Hams and West Devon PCT 3,283 8.99 6,809 9.24 4,904 5.66 
			 Teignbridge PCT n/a n/a 6,837 9.07 11,311 11.60 
			 Torbay PCT 4,360 9.51 8,984 8.37 7,960 5.47

NHS (Language Services)

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Health by what methods and at what intervals his Department will monitor the delivery of the NHS Direct language services contract; and if he will publish future performance assessments.

Rosie Winterton: The NHS Direct language service contract will be monitored through monthly activity reports and quarterly review meetings. The performance assessments will be available on request.

NHS (Language Services)

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether, following the recent award of the contract to supply interpreting and translation services by NHS Direct (OJEC ref: 2003/S153–139660), all NHS patients will continue to have their interpretation needs met by UK-based interpreters.

Rosie Winterton: National health service interpreters provided within the NHS Direct contract will, for the most part, be United Kingdom based. Where non-UK based interpreters and translators are used they must under the terms of the contract, have a qualification which is equivalent to that of UK-based interpreters and a reasonable understanding of the NHS.

NHS Productivity

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the change in NHS productivity in each year since 1997; what measures he uses to calculate NHS productivity; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what the evidential basis is for the assessment that there has been a 1.5 per cent. annual improvement in NHS productivity.

John Hutton: The chief executive's report, published in May 2004, highlighted a number of areas where the national health service is becoming more productive including:
	Productivity improvements in the ambulance service and cardiology.
	Quantifiable improvements in results—both outcomes and outputs—with improvements in premature mortality from coronary heart disease, cancer and suicide and faster access and treatment throughout the NHS.
	Health promotion measures, such as 'flu injections, which provide value for money.
	Control of overheads and wastage with, for example, lower management costs than other organisations, improved procurement and project management and control of bureaucracy.
	The Department has been undertaking work on productivity measurement including the development on an interim measure of NHS cost efficiency that takes account of expenditure on improving the quality of NHS services. Although this measure is still under development and not yet finalised, initial results suggest that cost efficiency in 2002–03 improved by over 1 per cent.
	Further work by the Department to improve productivity measurement is now being undertaken in conjunction with the Office for National Statistics and with the review of measurement of Government output and productivity commissioned by Len Cook. Two aims of this review, led by Sir Tony Atkinson, are to improve the way health outputs are measured in the national accounts and to support improved measures of health productivity.

NHS Security

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many security incidents he estimates there were in the NHS in England in each year since 1996.

John Hutton: Information on security incidents is available for the period 1999 to 2002. This is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Number of incidents 
		
		
			 1999–2000 106,935 
			 2000–01 112,095 
			 2001–02 166,667 
		
	
	Note:
	No statistics are available for the period 1996 to 1999 and 2002 to the present.
	The national health service security management service is currently developing methods to ensure that security incidents are reported and recorded in a simple consistent manner across the NHS.

NHS Statistics (London)

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients there were per general practitioner within greater London, broken down by borough (a) on the most recent recorded date and (b) in 1997.

John Hutton: The table shows the number of patients registered with a general practitioner unrestricted principal or equivalent, divided by the number of all GPs, excluding GP retainers and GP registrars. Figures for 1997 are only available by strategic health authority (SHA) area. Information by SHA area is provided for 1997 and 2002. Officials are investigating some localised anomalies in patient figures for 2003 and revised figures for 2003 will be available shortly.
	
		GPs (excluding retainers, registrars and locums)(16) and patients of unrestricted principals and equivalents (UPEs)(17) for London by strategic health authority and primary care trust -- Numbers (headcount)
		
			   1997 
			   GPs (excluding retainers, registrars and locums(16)) Patients of UPEs(17) Patients of UPEs per GP (excluding retainers, registrars and locums) 
		
		
			 London  4,324 7,936,576 1,835 
			 Of which 
			 North central London Q05 744 1,401,419 1,884 
			 North east London Q06 849 1,572,827 1,853 
			 North west London Q04 1,164 2,031,706 1,745 
			 South east London Q07 833 1,578,888 1,895 
			 South west London Q08 734 1,351,736 1,842 
		
	
	
		
			   2002 
			   GPs (excluding retainers, registrars and locums(16)) Patients of UPEs(17) Patients of UPEs per GP (excluding retainers, registrars and locums) 
		
		
			 London  4,327 8,122,456 1,877 
			 Of which 
			 North central London Q05 743 1,394,454 1,877 
			 North east London Q06 874 1,647,64 21,885 
			 North west London Q04 1,088 2,040,719 1,876 
			 South east London Q07 876 1,629,989 1,861 
			 South west London Q08 746 1,409,652 1,890 
		
	
	(16) All practitioners (excluding retainers, registrars and locums) include UPEs, restricted principals, assistants, salaried doctors (Para 52 SFA), PMS other and flexible career scheme GPs and GP returners
	(17) UPEs include GMS unrestricted principals, PMS contracted GPs and PMS salaried GPs.
	Data as at 1 October 1997 and 30 September 2003
	Source:
	Department of Health General and Personal Medical Services Statistics

NHS Statistics (London)

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many qualified radiographers have been employed in Greater London, broken down by national health service trust, in each of the last five years.

John Hutton: The information requested is shown in the table for a five year period ending 2003, which is the latest available information held.
	
		NHS hospital and community health services: Qualified radiography staff in the London regional office area by strategic health authority area and by organisation as at 30 September each specified year -- Headcount
		
			   1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 London  1,964 1,946 1,924 1,888 1,879 
			
			 North West London SHA Q04 396 417 406 399 389 
			 Chelsea and Westminster Healthcare NHS Trust RQM 46 44 47 41 40 
			 Ealing Hospital NHS Trust RC3 28 26 23 20 20 
			 Hillingdon HA QA2 2 2 2 (18)— (18)— 
			 Hillingdon PCT 5AT (18)— (18)— (18)— 2 1 
			 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust RV8 81 77 74 68 70 
			 Parkside Health NHS Trust RDA 1 (18)— (18)— (18)— (18)— 
			 Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust RT3 19 52 45 55 51 
			 St. Mary's NHS Trust RJ5 43 39 41 46 41 
			 The Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust RQN 117 107 100 95 96 
			 The Hillingdon Hospital NHS Trust RAS 27 40 43 41 42 
			 West London Mental Health NHS Trust RKL (18)— (18)— (18)— 1 1 
			 West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust RFW 32 30 31 30 27 
			
			 North Central London SHA Q05 456 468 454 417 414 
			 Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust RVL 77 77 75 78 77 
			 Camden PCT 5K7 (18)— (18)— (18)— (18)— 1 
			 Great Ormond Street Hospital For Children NHS Trust RP4 32 43 41 39 30 
			 Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Trust RP6 1 1 1 1 1 
			 North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust RAP 62 61 56 51 56 
			 Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust RAN 25 25 27 24 22 
			 The Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust RAL 76 85 76 75 74 
			 University College London Hospitals NHS Trust RRV 152 143 142 118 122 
			 Whittington Hospital NHS Trust RKE 31 33 36 31 31 
			
			 North East London SHA Q06 350 338 322 322 333 
			 Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS Trust RF4 (18)— (18)— 94 95 105 
			 BHB Community Healthcare NHS Trust RG6 2 2 (18)— (18)— (18)— 
			 Forest Healthcare NHS Trust RDF 38 39 (18)— (18)— (18)— 
			 Havering Hospitals NHS Trust RG7 74 80 (18)— (18)— (18)— 
			 Havering PCT 5A4 (18)— (18)— 1 1 1 
			 Homerton University Hospital NHS Trust RQX 25 26 24 25 30 
			 Newham Community Health Services NHS Trust RRH (18)— 1 (18)— (18)— (18)— 
			 Newham Healthcare NHS Trust RNH 26 25 25 22 20 
			 Newham PCT 5C5 (18)— (18)— 1 (18)— (18)— 
			 Redbridge Health Care NHS Trust RG4 27 23 (18)— (18)— (18)— 
			 The Royal Hospitals NHS Trust RNJ 158 142 134 138 141 
			 Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust RGC (18)— (18)— 43 41 36 
			
			 South East London SHA Q07 382 370 390 384 386 
			 Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust RG3 36 35 37 33 41 
			 Guy's and St. Thomas' Hospital NHS Trust RJ1 140 129 128 138 142 
			 King's College Hospital NHS Trust RJZ 87 96 97 87 81 
			 Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS Trust RG2 37 31 48 42 40 
			 Queen Mary's Sidcup NHS Trust RGZ 42 42 42 45 43 
			 South London and Maudsley NHS Trust RV5 11 10 9 9 10 
			 The Lewisham Hospital NHS Trust RJ2 29 27 29 30 29 
			
			 South West London SHA Q08 380 353 352 366 357 
			 Epsom and St. Helier NHS Trust RVR 83 76 67 71 63 
			 Kingston Hospital NHS Trust RAX 63 58 55 58 56 
			 Mayday Healthcare NHS Trust RJ6 34 34 37 37 32 
			 Richmond and Twickenham PCT 5M6 (18)— (18)— (18)— 3 3 
			 Royal Marsden Hospital NHS Trust RPY 98 88 95 99 104 
			 South West London Community NHS Trust RVM 2 2 2 (18)— (18)— 
			 St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust RJ7 97 92 94 98 99 
			 Teddington Memorial Hospital RRR 3 3 (18)— (18)— (18)— 
			 Teddington, Twickenham and Hamptons PCT 5A6 (18)— (18)— 2 (18)— (18)— 
		
	
	(18) Not applicable.
	Source:
	Department of Health Non-Medical Workforce Census.

NHS Statistics (London)

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many assaults there were on members of NHS staff during the last 12 months at hospitals in Greater London, broken down by National Health Service Trust.

John Hutton: Information is not available in the format requested.

NICE Facilitators

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many National Institute for Clinical Excellence facilitators have been appointed within primary care trusts.

Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected centrally.

Osteoporosis

Phil Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in England suffer from osteoporosis.

Stephen Ladyman: The information requested is not available centrally. However, hospital episode statistics give accounts of admissions to national health service hospitals in England by English residents. In 2002–03, there were 8,888 finished admissions episodes where the primary diagnosis was osteoporosis.
	Note:
	1. A finished admission episode is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year.
	2. The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 (seven prior to 2002–03) diagnosis fields in the hospital episode statistics data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital.
	3. Figures have not been adjusted for shortfalls in data (i.e. the data is ungrossed).

PHLS Media Services

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to safeguard the supply of agar plates in the event of a national emergency.

Melanie Johnson: National Health Service Trusts and the Health Protection Agency (HPA) have well-established contingency plans for maintaining supplies of agar plates in the event of a national emergency. These include retention within the HPA of a capacity to respond to surges in demand for specialist media resulting from any outbreak or threat.

Professor Breckenridge

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he made of the interests held by Professor Breckenridge when appointing him to the Subcommittee on Pharmacovigilance.

Rosie Winterton: Professor Sir Alistair Breckenridge was appointed as chairman of the Pharmacovigilance Sub-committee of the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) from 1 January 1996 and served in that post until 31 December 1998. Until the end of 1997 he had declared personal interests in SmithKline and Beecham as a member of its Scientific Advisory Committee. It is acceptable for members of medicines advisory committees, and chairmen and members of sub-committees to hold interests in the pharmaceutical industry so long as they are declared publicly.
	Members of all of the Medicines Act Advisory committees are required to follow a code of practice on declarations of interests in the pharmaceutical industry. Both the code and the individual details of members' interests are published annually in the advisory bodies' reports. Copies are available in the Library and are also available on the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency's web site (www.mhra.gov.uk). The code of practice sets out the types of interests that should be declared and also provides a framework for ensuring that conflicts of interests are avoided in the course of the advisory bodies' work. A legal adviser attends every meeting of the advisory bodies and ensures that the code is complied with.
	Professor Sir Alistair Breckenridge was appointed as chairman of the CSM from 1 January 1999 until 31 March 2003. He has had no interests in the pharmaceutical industry since the end of 1997.

Public Health

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the cost of establishing 25 consultants and specialists in public health per million population.

Melanie Johnson: The information we hold centrally does not allow us to give an accurate estimate of the cost of establishing 25 consultants and specialists in public health per million population. Public health specialist is a generic term and practitioners can come from a range of backgrounds and disciplines with varying rates of pay.

Registered Doctors

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the number of clinicians newly registered to practise in the UK who were unable to find a recognised training post more than three months after they had registered to practise in each of the last three years.

John Hutton: The data is not collected by the Department.

Sickness Absence

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the average number of days taken in sickness absence by (a) doctors and (b) nurses was in each year since 1996;
	(2)  how many days were taken in sickness absence by (a) doctors and (b) nurses in each year since 1996.

John Hutton: Figures for sickness absence in the national health service in England were not collected by the Department between 1997 and 1999. We do not collect or produce information for number of days or the average number of days lost per NHS employee but publish the figures as a percentage lost of the time they should have been available for work. General practitioners and their staff are not included in these figures. The Department does not collect separate information for doctors or nurses.
	The national NHS sickness absence level for 2003 is 4.7 per cent. This is slightly higher than the figure for 2002 of 4.6 per cent., but is lower than the figure for 2001 of 4.8 per cent. The overall NHS sickness absence rates have changed little over the last five years. The continued importance given to the management of sickness absence by NHS employers should show further improvements in the absence levels. The table shows the figures published for sickness absence in the NHS in England and its regions and covers the period from 2002 to 2003.
	
		Percentages
		
			  2002 2003 
		
		
			 England 4.6 4.7 
			
			 Regions   
			 North East 5.0 5.1 
			 North West 5.0 5.2 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 4.4 4.5 
			 East Midlands 4.8 5.1 
			 West Midlands 4.9 5.1 
			 East of England 4.5 4.6 
			 London 4.4 4.3 
			 South East 4.1 4.2 
			 South West 4.8 4.7 
			 Special health authorities and other statutory bodies 5.4 4.2

Substance Misuse

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioners are involved in substance misuse shared care in each drug action team area.

Melanie Johnson: The information is not collected centrally.

Tetra Mast (Dursley)

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to investigate changes in reported illness rates in Dursley, Gloucestershire in the vicinity of the recently installed Tetra mast.

Melanie Johnson: This is a matter for Cotswold and Vale Primary Care Trust (PCT). I understand that the issue has not been raised with the PCT by local general practitioners and the PCT has not considered the mast as a key issue for public health locally.

Zyban

Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what guidance he has given to general practitioners regarding possible side effects of use of the drug Zyban;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on yellow card reports received in connection with use of the drug Zyban.

Rosie Winterton: Guidance on prescribing and use of Zyban, including possible side effects, is provided in the authorised summary of product characteristics for health professionals and patient information leaflet. Key prescribing information is also included in the British National Formulary which is sent by the Department to doctors and pharmacists within the national health service.
	Since marketing, the safety of Zyban has been closely monitored by the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM). The CSM has looked at the accumulating evidence from Yellow Card reports of suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs), received in association with its use. In accordance with their advice, a number of steps have been taken to optimise the safe use of Zyban and to minimise the risk of side effects, particularly seizures. This includes advice to general practitioners and smoking cessation clinics, which was issued in March 2001, reminding them of the safety profile of Zyban and of information posted on the CSM website.
	In May 2001, the CSM issued new guidance strengthened warnings particularly about potential interactions with other medicines and advised a slower increase in the dose of Zyban in order to minimise the risk of side effects, the lower 150mg dose should be prescribed for the first six days, increasing to 150mg twice daily on day seven rather than day four. This new guidance was issued in order to allow more time for the drug levels to stabilise, to help minimise the risk of adverse reactions, particularly seizures. Since this guidance was issued, the reporting rate of suspected ADRs has fallen significantly.
	A total of 8,466 reports of suspected adverse reactions have been received via the Yellow Card scheme in the United Kingdom. The most commonly reported reactions are urticaria, insomnia, rash, headache, dizziness and nausea, which are recognised reactions and are listed in the product information provided to prescribers and patients. It is important to note that these suspected reactions are not necessarily caused by the drug and may relate to other factors such as nicotine withdrawal, other illnesses or other medicines taken concurrently.
	The safety of Zyban continues to be monitored closely by the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Authority/CSM. The CSM has advised that the balance of the effectiveness of Zyban in helping people to stop smoking, and the health benefits that this brings, compared with the risk of adverse effects remains favourable.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Appliance Safety Testing

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the policy of (a) the Department of Education and (b) each of the Education and Library Boards in Northern Ireland is on appliance safety testing, including the testing of portable appliances.

Barry Gardiner: In line with Electricity at Work Regulations, which came into effect on 6 January 1992, and guidance from the Health and Safety Executive, the Department of Education's policy in relation to the testing of electrical appliances including portable appliances, is to test all electrical equipment on annual basis.
	Each Education and Library Board has local arrangements in place to ensure that they comply with the requirements of the Electricity at Work Regulations (N.I.) 1991 and the associated Codes of Practice. These arrangements include the routine testing of portable appliances in Board properties and schools by approved contractors and suitably trained staff.

Comber High School/Bangor Academy

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the South Eastern Education and Library Board has completed a preliminary inquiry in order to establish the need for an equality impact assessment with regard to the public-private partnership scheme to provide new accommodation at Comber High School and Bangor Academy.

Barry Gardiner: I understand from the Chief Executive of the South Eastern Education and Library Board that the Board carried out a screening exercise which concluded that an Equality Impact Assessment was not required for this project. The Board is awaiting a determination from the Equality Commission in relation to a complaint from UNISON about the Board's Equality Screening exercise.

Juvenile Justice Centre

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans the Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice has to inspect the Juvenile Justice Centre; and if he will make a statement.

John Spellar: The Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice plans to inspect the Juvenile Justice Centre in the autumn.

Part-time Police Reserve

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what progress he has made in implementing the Patten Report's proposal to create an enlarged part-time police reserve.

Ian Pearson: Implementation of the Patten Report's proposal to create an enlarged part-time police reserve rests currently with both the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Policing Board. The enabling legislation has been fully implemented.
	A pilot recruitment exercise in four District Command Unit areas (Lisburn, Coleraine, Newtownabbey and Banbridge) has taken place.
	On 17 October 2003, Denis Bradley, Vice Chairman of the Policing Board, issued a press release stating that all vacancies for part-time reserve officers in the four pilot districts would be filled. The first 10 officers from the pilot entered training in February 2004 and were attested on 5 March. However, the press release also announced the decision to evaluate the pilot recruitment exercise before a further recruitment exercise would take place to improve the process for subsequent rounds of recruitment. Following the outcome of the evaluation it will be a matter for the Policing Board and PSNI to decide the next phase of the recruitment of part-time reserve officers.

Part-time Police Reserve

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many officers have been recruited to the police part-time reserve in each of the last four years.

Ian Pearson: The Police Service of Northern Ireland has provided the following information on the recruitment of part-time reserve officers in each of the last four years.
	
		
			  Number of part time reserve recruited 
		
		
			 2001 — 
			 2002 — 
			 2003 — 
			 2004 108

Part-time Police Reserve

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many officers have (a) resigned and (b) retired from the police part-time reserve in each of the last four years.

Ian Pearson: The Police Service of Northern Ireland have provided the following information in respect of part-time reserve officers who have (a) resigned and (b) retired in each of the last four years.
	
		
			  Resigned Retired 
		
		
			 June to December 2000 25 23 
			 January to December 2001 51 24 
			 January to December 2002 46 23 
			 January to December 2003 48 32 
			 January to June 2004 23 18

Pensioners (Dental Care)

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to introduce free dental care for pensioners in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: The Department currently meets 78 per cent. of the total cost of health service dentistry in Northern Ireland. As in the rest of the UK, all dental treatment for pensioners on pension credit guarantee credit is free and other pensioners, depending on circumstances, can get help with the costs involved through the Low-Income Scheme. There are no plans to change current policies in this area.

Public Bodies

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland who the members of the Ulster-Scots Agency are; how many meetings each member has attended since their appointment; and where each meeting was held.

Angela Smith: The following members of the North South Language Body constitute the Board of the Ulster-Scots Agency:
	Jim Devenney
	Alistair Simpson
	Dr. Ian Adamson
	Pat Wall
	Bob Stoker
	Dr. Linde Lunney
	Eddie O'Donnell
	Ian Adamson was appointed to the Board on 1 September 2003. The other members were appointed (or reappointed) on 13 December 2002. Since then the Board has met 11 times at the following locations:
	
		
			  Location 
		
		
			 February 2003 Franklin House, Belfast 
			 March 2003 Waterfront Plaza 
			 May 2003 Stranmillis University College 
			 June 2003 RIA, Dublin 
			 July 2003 Four Season Hotel, Monaghan 
			 September 2003 Institute of Ulster-Scots Studies, Londonderry 
			 November 2003 Strabane Council Office 
			 January 2004 Franklin House 
			 March 2004 Hilton Grosvenor, Edinburgh 
			 April 2004 Jackson Hotel, Ballybofey, Co Donegal 
			 May 2004 Grosvenor House, Belfast 
		
	
	Of the 11 meetings, Mr. Devenney, Mr. Simpson and Mr. Wall each attended nine; and Mr. Stoker five meetings. Mr. O'Donnell and Dr. Lunney attended 10 meetings during this period; while Dr. Adamson attended five of the six meetings held since his appointment in September 2003.

Rainbow Network

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much funding has been provided to the Rainbow Network in each of the last five years.

John Spellar: Records indicate that none of the 11 Northern Ireland Government Departments or the Northern Ireland Office has provided funding to the Rainbow Network during the last five years.